Secrets on the Other Side
by sherbertglasses
Summary: The Doctor realizes he can't go on without Rose after Doomsday, so he decides he's going to find a way to get her back, but what secrets lie in the other dimension? Pairing: Doctor/Rose I started this story right after Doomsday aired, but finished it last year.
1. Chapter 1

Rose was gone. She was gone and he had no way of getting back to her. He hadn't even gotten to tell her. He stood, tears streaming down his face, hoping stupidly that it was just a glitch in the transmission and any second he would flicker back onto the beach and be able to finish his sentence. But he didn't. It felt as if both his hearts were being slowly agonizingly crushed.

The Doctor closed his eyes and wished with all that he was that Rose live a happy life. He told himself she was better off. He couldn't have given her the life she deserved anyway. He buried his face in his hands and attempted to compose himself enough to set coordinates for some random spot in space. Somewhere he could just park the TARDIS and sit in their room missing her for a couple of days. Weeks? Months? It did matter anymore. That was when he noticed it. The white shape out of the corner of his eye. He looked up to see a woman in a bridal gown standing with her back to him. For a moment he had the ludicrous thought that it was Rose. Though the thought wasn't any more ludicrous than the notion that a strange woman in a wedding dress was suddenly standing in his TARDIS millions of light-years from Earth when there was no one a second ago. "What?" the word escaped lips in his confusion.

She turned around. Not Rose. She made a surprised sound. "What?" he said again.

"Who are you?" said the woman.

"Bu-"

"Where am I?"

"What?" he reiterated.

"What the hell is this place?!"

"What?!" It seemed to be the only word currently accessible to him.

"You tell me what's going on right now!" she seemed less scared than she did angry. As if he were some incompetent bellhop and she wanted to see his manager.

"Wha- Bu- I- Who are you?! How did you get in here?!" the Doctor asked.

"I'm asking the questions here!"

The nerve of this woman! "No," said the Doctor, finally finding his authoritative tone. "This is my ship, and you're intruding, so the question asking position belongs to me."

"Ship? This is a boat? I've been kidnaped and spirited out to sea!"

"No, it's not that type of-"

"You're going to murder me and dump me in international waters!"

"Will you shut up!" Finally the strange woman was silent. "Thank you. Now, no one is going to murder you. I just want to know how you got here." She opened her mouth, but he cut her off. "As you seem to be panicking, I'll wager you don't know the answer to that yourself. I'll just drop you back where and when you came from and we can forget this whole thing. So, first thing's first. What's your name?"

"Donna. Donna Noble," she replied in a suspicious tone.

"All right, Donna. I'm the Doctor. Now, what year are you from?"

"What?!"

"Just answer the question."

"2009."

"And where were you just before you were here?"

"Beaconsfield. I was in the park."

"And what was the exact date and time?"

"Look, I'm not answering any more of your questions until you answer some of mine!" she said, back to her grating voice of reprimand.

"I am really not in the mood for humoring ignorant humans today," he said, starting to lose his calm. "I just want to be alone. So just answer my question so I can be in that state sooner!" But the truth was, he didn't want to be alone. He wanted to be with Rose. But he couldn't. And although this very annoying situation provided a momentary distraction from his pain, he felt like wallowing in his misery for a time, rather than deal with things like this.

"What are you on about?"

"Just tell me the date and time!"

"Um, March 15th. Around...oh, I dunno...three 'o clock?"

"You're sure?" he asked as he started setting the coordinates. "Might wanna round up if you're not sure."

"Why?"

"Well, better to be a bit late than run into yourself and create a paradox," he said as if it were obvious.

"What?!" The TARDIS began to move. "What was that? What's going on?!"

"Just taking you home," said the Doctor. "You, uh, might want to hold on to something. Landings can be a bit rough."

"It gets worse?" And then it did, as the TARDIS materialized with a jolt and she was thrown to the floor.

"I told you to hold on," The Doctor strode toward the door. Normally he would have helped her up, but today he wasn't feeling the good samaritan. He stepped outside. "This where you were?"

Donna stepped cautiously out of the TARDIS onto the grass of a park just across the street from an old church. "Y-yes. What is that th- ah!" She had turned around to see the decidedly small blue box that, logically, could not contain the large room she had just left.

The Doctor ignored her wordless pointing and shaking as he checked his watch. "March 15th, 2009, 3:30pm."

"What's going on?!" she shouted "What is that?! Where was I just now?! Have you drugged me?! What are you playing at?!"

The Doctor sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. She was panicking. Humans. Why did they always panic? Well, Rose hadn't panicked. She'd accepted everything about his life fairly quickly. No, his Rose was far too clever to have panicked at the thought of alien invasions and 'bigger on the inside'. There it was again. Every thought led back to Rose. He was going to have to stop that if he wanted to stay sane. Deep down, though, he knew that would never stop. As he pulled out of his thoughts, he became aware that the insufferable bride was still screeching at him. God, he never thought he find someone whose nagging voice was more intolerable than Jackie Tyler's. "Look, it doesn't matter," he said in response to Donna's ranting. "Let's just forget this ever happened, yeah?" he headed back to the TARDIS adding to himself, "The sooner the better."

"Donna!" came a voice from behind him.

"Ethan!"

The Doctor turned to see Donna running toward a young man in a tuxedo, presumably the groom. Ethan caught Donna in his arms and swung her around. An involuntary smile played on the Doctor's face as he remembered the countless times he swung Rose around the same way. Ethan and Donna kissed sweetly. "I was afraid you'd run off on me. Cold feet and all that," said Ethan.

"Never," Donna replied. She seemed a completely different person now.

"Who is this?" Ethan asked indicating the Doctor.

"Oh, I just gave her a lift is all," said the Doctor. "She got a bit lost. I'll be off now though."

"Why don't you stay?" he said.

"What?"

"Yeah, stay for the wedding," added Donna.

"What?!" Oh, no. Don't start that again. Hadn't she hated him a minute ago? "Um, I shouldn't, really. I've got... things."

"No, don't be silly," said Ethan, who was walking over to him now. "A couple of our guests didn't show up and we've still got to pay for the food."

"Well, er..." he weighed his options. Escape patterns? The TARDIS was right behind him, but Ethan was standing right in front of him, and there was now a crowd people watching from the church entrance. They'd likely come to see if Donna had indeed left Ethan at the altar.

"C'mon, then," said Ethan, who was now leading him by the elbow. "We have to repay you somehow."

He had no choice. "Oh, alright." He'd sit in the back and sneak out during the ceremony. Going to a wedding was not exactly the best thing for someone who'd just lost the love of his life.

* * *

The Doctor sat in the back pew, right by the door. Ready to slip out as soon as the bride and groom were up at the front and everyone's attention was on them. How many bridesmaids and groomsmen did they have? And two flower girls?! Bloody hell! Finally, Donna came out and made her way toward Ethan. She stood in front of him and looked into his eyes, and he into hers.

"You look fantastic," said Ethan.

"You too," said Donna.

"If we may begin," the priest politely interrupted. "Dearly beloved..." and the ceremony began.

The Doctor looked on. And why hadn't he left yet? Then, suddenly, he was imagining that it was not Ethan and Donna up there on that altar, but himself and Rose. Which was stupid really. Neither of them had every really wanted that. They were happy the way they were. Though, when he thought about it; they had been married, sort of. Minus the ceremony, license, and rings. But, when you got down to the core of what marriage really was, or should be, they were. They lived together, slept together, supported each other, had the occasional row, made up. They spent every moment with each other and thoroughly enjoyed each other's company. Not because some piece of paper or reminder on their finger told them to, but because they wanted to, couldn't stand not to.

How was he supposed to go on without her? He'd lost companions before, yes. And many, to much worse circumstances. But this was different. He'd never cried over it before this. He rarely said goodbye, let alone destroy an entire star to do so. But, he never had a companion whom he'd told could spend the rest of their life with him. Never had one that said they'd stay forever and whom he sincerely hoped would.

And suddenly he felt a droplet on his hand. He was crying. He was crying in public! He was crying at a wedding! How cliche! Though, he wasn't crying for the same reason as all the old biddies here. He finally slipped out of his seat and out the door. He had made a decision. He wasn't going to go on without her. He was going to get her back.


	2. Chapter 2

Back in the TARDIS, the Doctor set the coordinates for a holding pattern. He needed time to do research. Dimension hopping had been entirely possible when Gallifrey and the Eye of Harmony were still around. It was impossible now. But then, impossible had always been his forte.

The first thing he set to doing was to look through the TARDIS's navigation history. If he'd gotten to that universe before, he could do it again. Even if it was by accident. But, after five hours of searching and re-searching, he realized the data wasn't there. When the TARDIS crashed through the vortex, it had lost power. The data was never recorded. He had no map. The next thing he did was try to figure out exactly what had gone wrong that first time, so he might be able to recreate it in a controlled form. It was his only lead as for a way to travel between dimensions.

He knew the time vortex had disappeared, but he didn't know why or how. He never had figured that out. That disturbed him. By all accounts it should have been impossible. Impossible things sometimes happened, yes, but he was always able to figure out the reason. And where had it gone to back then? The only other time it had left the TARDIS was when it went into Rose. That was another thing he never figured out. How she had managed to do that and how she had survived as long as she had, let alone control it. No one should have been able to do that. Especially not a nineteen year old human girl. Even he, a Time Lord, wasn't able to harness it after he drew it out of her. All he could do was send it back into the TARDIS. He only had it in his body for a matter of seconds and it had killed him. Rose woke up fine. Perfectly healthy. It baffled him. And that was saying something.

After a few days of tinkering, exploring, and talking to and yelling at an unresponsive TARDIS, he still had no results. So, the Doctor headed to the library. Maybe there was something in there on trans-dimensional travel.

* * *

Rose awoke to the sound of her alarm. Not the same sound as she was used to. Her old alarm was still on the TARDIS. Not that she had ever really needed it. Time was irrelevant on the TARDIS, so it didn't matter how long you slept. Besides, the Doctor had always woken her up early, eager for a new adventure. Cutest alarm clock ever, she thought with a smile. Her face quickly fell when she remembered there would be no more mornings like that. No more waking up in his arms nor falling asleep in them.

She dragged herself out of bed and headed for the shower. She let the hot water beat down on her and began to cry. She did that so much lately. It seemed like the hours of every day were punctuated by tears, even if they were sometimes unshed. It had only been a week since saying goodbye at Bad Wolf Bay, but it felt like an eternity. She put on a brave face for her family and tried to give the appearance of moving on, but she was screaming inside. Something told her she always would be.

When she finished her shower, Rose dressed in the clothes she had laid out the night before. A light blue dress shirt with a wide, angular collar, and a black suit. Today was her first day at Torchwood. Pete had put her in charge of alien identification and relations. She was nervous about it, but she had to be strong and live that 'fantastic life'. She stopped in front of the mirror to look herself over. She practiced a little smile. It looked fake. She grabbed the TARDIS key off her dresser and put it around her neck then headed downstairs. Maybe it was unhealthy that she still wore it, that she would always wear it, but it was the only thing she had of him.

Her mum and dad were in the kitchen. Her dad was reading the newspaper and her mum was making tea. It was strange. Growing up, this was the sort of scene she'd always dreamed of waking up to. Not anymore.

"Good morning, sweetheart," said Jackie coming over to hug her daughter. This was how she greeted Rose now. Ever since she'd said goodbye to the Doctor. It was nice the first day or two. Now it was just a gesture of pity, driving the grief home. Pete caught her eye and rolled his in sympathy. That made it a bit better.

"Can I make you something to eat?" said Jackie, going back to take the kettle off the stove.

"No. I need to head off," said Rose. "Don't want to be late for my first day."

"Rose," said her mum, giving her a meaningful look, "Please."

"I... Yeah. Yeah, alright." She hadn't been eating as much as she should. "Just some toast and, um, what've we got for fruit?"

"Uh, just bananas and apples."

"I'll have an apple." She wasn't ready to eat a banana without crying yet.

"Sure you don't want some sausage?" asked Pete indicating the plate on the table.

"Yeah."

"You need your protein." he said.

"Fine. I'll have a sausage too." She acted as if she were humoring them, but she knew they were right. She did need to start eating right.

After breakfast, Rose crossed the lawn to her car. Mickey, Jake, and some of the other Preachers were doing laps around the estate. Pete had let them set up shop in the guest house. She waved to them as they passed by. Only Mickey and Jake waved back. She didn't know the others that well. She got in the grey SUV and started down the driveway. She could already tell this was going to be a long day.

* * *

Mickey watched as Rose drove away. She'd lost that brightness she used to have. The brightness that drew him to her in the first place, and shined even brighter when she started traveling with the Doctor. He felt for her. He knew what it was like to be trapped a world away from the one you loved and the people you knew. But at least, when he was left here, it was his choice and he'd known Rose would be happy. The Doctor must be miserable and broken. She probably knew it too.

He'd hated the Doctor at first. He'd taken his girlfriend and caused him to be accused of murder. The more he saw the Doctor in action though, the more he warmed up to him. And then in the short time he'd traveled with them, when he saw them together, he knew that this wasn't some crush or fling that had stolen her away. He was in the presence of something great, something epic. It was love. Love on a scale that dwarfed the storybooks and movie screens. He couldn't stand in the way of that.

Jake's voice drew him from his thoughts. "Oi, Mickey! You gonna stand there all day? We're suppose to be in front."

"Right, sorry!" and he ran to catch up with the group.

* * *

One week. One whole week he'd been studying, and still no leads! The Doctor was sitting with his glasses on, jacket off, tie loosened, in the library. Stubble was beginning to grow unchecked on his face. He'd read nearly every book in the library twice over. Nothing! He tore off his glasses, screamed in frustration and hurled his book at the wall, followed by three others for good measure. He sank back down into his chair and put his head in his hands, raking his fingers through his hair and balling them into fists at the back of his head.

"Dammit!" he slammed his fists down on the desk.

He hadn't slept nor ate nor drank in the week since he began searching, but that was fine. Time Lords could go just under forty days without food or water and needed only a minimum of fifteen hours of sleep a month. He stood, tore his tie off, threw it down on the desk and began to pace the room. There had to be something. Something he missed. He refused to believe that getting Rose back was impossible. There was always a way, always a loophole. Always. He just had to find it. And he would find it. If it took an eternity of searching and he still came up empty, he still wouldn't doubt the answer was out there. And if there was even a sliver of hope that he could find it, he would never stop looking.

Three more weeks and he still had nothing. The Doctor was consumed by his quest. He had time for nothing else. He looked awful, he felt awful, and he didn't smell all that good either. He was incredibly scruffy by now. He'd exhausted all possible leads he could inside the TARDIS long ago and expanded his search outward. Finding scientists and physicists in all manner of times and places to see if any of them knew something he didn't. None of them ever did. After all, who knew more than him? And then it struck him. There was someone who knew more than him! The Face of Boe! But how would he find him? The Face was notorious for only being found when he wanted to be. Well, that was another thing they had in common, now wasn't it? The Doctor would find him. He just had to look in the right times and places.

Surprisingly, it only took him four more days to locate The Face of Boe. He was to attend a political conference in the Califar nebula on November 18th, 5,000,000,059. The Doctor knew he'd never get in the door looking like he did now.

He'd been avoiding his bedroom since Rose was gone. It would smell like her. He remembered when his room had officially become their room. They'd begun sleeping together not long after they left Mickey in the parallel universe. He'd finally gotten over himself and given in to his feelings for her. They still had separate rooms though. It was after they'd left the planet with the black hole that the room had become both of theirs.

They were lying in his bed and she'd needed something from her room (he couldn't remember what) and she gotten up to get it.

"Can I just leave it in here?" she had asked tentatively.

"Yeah, sure," he'd said. Then he'd stopped to think for a moment. This was a bit silly, wasn't it? Running back and forth between rooms the way they were. She was just about at the door when he'd said it. "Why, um..." She turned. "Why don't you leave all your things in here?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well...I mean...I know it's not a house with a little white picket fence and a mortgage, but...I... I mean...Well..."

"Are...Are you asking me to move in with you?" she'd asked in what he liked to think was a cautiously hopeful voice.

He'd given her that little lopsided smile she thought was so cute and shrugged one naked shoulder. "Maybe," and he'd looked her eyes in way that said anything but 'maybe'.

He'd watched as the expression of joy slowly spread across her face and became a childish glee, and he'd known his expression was mirroring hers as she ran over and pounced on him squealing "Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!" and the dressing gown she'd only just put on was quickly shed. The next time they entered the room the TARDIS had taken it upon herself to move all of Rose's things in and arrange them perfectly.

The Doctor smiled sadly at the memory. If he couldn't get her back, that would be all he would have. Memories. And that wasn't enough. Not nearly enough. Slowly, he forced himself to open the bedroom door. It was dark, and yes, it did still smell like her. Like the both of them. Memories of being tangled up in her rushed back all at once and threatened to destroy him. He screwed his eyes shut and tried to drive them away. He was getting her back. Drowning in his misery wasn't going to do either of them any good. He turned on the lights and headed to the bathroom. Before he could hope to get into the conference, he needed a shower, a shave, and a change of clothes.

* * *

Rose sat at her desk waiting for her lunch break. She'd been working here at Torchwood for nearly a month. It had been hard getting up every day and going to work, trying pointlessly to move on. Then, on her fifth day at work, she overheard someone mention that a few months back the research department had been working on experiments in trans-dimensional study.

Her first instinct was that she had to find those files. Maybe she could find a way back to the Doctor. Then she thought about it logically. She didn't know anything about quantum physics. She knew only what she had understood of what the Doctor told her. Besides, what could these people know that the Doctor didn't. If there was a way to bring her back, surely he would have done it already.

Then she found out where the files were kept. The temptation was too great. She snuck in and read as much as she could before she had to be back at her desk. She didn't understand much of it, but did her best to remedy that on the internet when she got back to her desk. Eventually it became a routine, and it gave her something to look forward to. Every day she would spend her lunch hour in the records room reading, taking notes, doing her best to fill in the blanks. At her desk, she would surf the web learng all she could about quantum physics, string theory, and any dimensional theories she could get her hands on. She bought all the books she could on the subjects. It may be fruitless and she might never find what she needed, but it gave her something else to live for.

So there she sat, waiting for her break, so she could get to the records room again. "Rose?" a voice in front of her drew her eyes from the clock. It was Paul, her supervisor. "We're gonna need you to work through lunch, that okay?" It wasn't a request. Bosses don't make requests. So why did they always insist on making them sound that way?

"Sure," she had no choice. "Why?"

"We just got that load of alien artifacts in. You know, the ones they found off the coast of Sweden. Anyway, Mr. Tyler's busy meeting with the president," she kept having to remind herself that they weren't talking about America when they said that here, "and the whole staff is running around like chickens with their heads cut off, so were all working overtime."

"Oh. Alright," said Rose.

"Great," said Paul, and he dropped a stack of files on her desk. "See if you can identify any of these. I think we've got a new species!"

Rose waited until Paul was gone and sighed heavily. She was going to have to wait until tomorrow to get any research done.

Rose opened the file. She flipped through it absent mindedly until something Caught her eye. Something she recognized. But what she was looking at was impossible. Wasn't it?

* * *

The Doctor stepped out of the bathroom freshly washed and closely shaved with a towel around his waist. The shower had still smelled like her shampoo. It was killing him. He need to get Rose back soon or he would surely descend into madness.

He headed for the dresser, trying desperately not to look around at anything in the room for fear of seeing one of her blouses or hoodies lying around. He dressed in a clean suit. He opted for the plain white shirt and threw on the first tie he found. Brown and bronze speckled. He set the coordinates for the time and location of the conference and the TARDIS landed in no time at all. The Doctor put on his coat, grabbed the psychic paper and headed out the door. If the answer to getting Rose back existed anywhere, it was out there.


	3. Chapter 3

Rose stared in disbelief at the photograph. It wasn't one of the artifacts brought back. The divers had taken a picture of it while they were down there. It was some sort of hatch deep in the bottom of the trench. What had Rose so startled, however, was not the hatch itself, but the writing on the hatch. She knew it was writing only because the Doctor had told her so. Anyone else would assume it to be a design. It was the same type of geometric shapes found all over the TARDIS. On the post-it notes on the console, and displayed on the monitor. It was Gallifreyan text.

But how could that be? Was there a Gallifrey in this dimension that hadn't been destroyed? No. That couldn't be. The Doctor had said that the Time Lords use to be able to pass though dimensions, and much of their technology, it seems, consisted of interiors and exteriors that existed in separate dimensions. That would make Time Lords pandimensional beings (at least when there were enough of them). Having two versions would be too dangerous. It could create all sorts of paradoxes.

The hatch looked sort of like a large octagonal manhole embedded in the ocean floor. It looked so old. It must have been installed in one of Earth's earliest eras. Did the Doctor know about this? Were the rest of the artifacts Gallifreyan? She started looking through the other files.

None of the other artifacts appeared to be from Gallifrey. They seemed to be from another ship that had crashed there much more recently. Had they been trying to get inside the hatch? What was in there? Rose suddenly found herself quite glad her lunch break had been cancelled.

* * *

Empty. The floor of the conference hall was empty but for a janitor sweeping up. The Doctor looked at his watch. He'd just missed it! The TARDIS had materialized just five minutes after the conference ended. How could she do that to him?! He slumped down against the wall next to the entrance and hung his head between his knees.

He couldn't go back. He was already part of events. The Face of Boe was gone, and that meant his chance at getting Rose back was gone. What if he never caught up with The Face of Boe? What if he never got Rose back? Could he endure? Could he go through life haunted by her memory and not go mad? "Pardon me?" He looked up at the voice to find the janitor standing over him. "Are you the Doctor?"

"...Yes," he said confused.

"The Face of Boe said to give you this," and he produced a large-ish purple crystal. It looked much like one of the TARDIS' power cells, only it was lavender in color and quite larger.

The Doctor stood up and took the object from the man. He turned it over in his hand, examining it. "He knew I was coming," said the Doctor in slight awe. He gave a small chuckle. "The enigmatic bastard knew I was coming!" he said in a fond admiration. "Thanks, mate!" said the Doctor putting a hand on the man's shoulder, then deciding to pull him into a hug. "Thank you so much!" He let go of the bewildered janitor and ran to the TARDIS to find out how to use the device. He was going to get Rose back! This would work! There wasn't a doubt in his mind.

Once inside the TARDIS, the Doctor ran to the console, pulled out his sonic screwdriver and scanned the purple object. It's make-up was vaguely similar to that of a TARDIS power cell, but much more complex. And there were at least two-thousand substances that even he could not identify. "Where did he get this?" he wondered aloud.

* * *

Rose made copies of the all files she'd read and rushed back to the house after work. She wasn't quite sure yet what she was going to do about this new discovery. She just knew she was supposed to do something. It was 7:30 when she reached the manor. Rose ran inside. "Mum?!" she called out, "Mum?!"

Jackie hurried out of the living room into the hall, cuppa in hand. "What? What is it sweetheart?"

"Mum, look at this!" Rose showed the files to her mother.

"Alright..." She scanned the files somewhat blankly. "What am I looking at?"

"There," said Rose, pointing at the photograph of the hatch. "Right there."

"A manhole?"

"Mum, that 'manhole' is over three thousand fathoms down, at the bottom of the ocean! Besides, it's not the 'manhole' itself that I'm talking about. Look at the writing on it. It's Gallifreyan!"

"What?"

"That's the Doctor's home planet."

Realization dawned on Jackie. "Oh..." she looked at the photo thoughtfully. "What does that mean?"

Rose paused. "I...I don't know."

"Sweetheart, what exactly were you planning to do about it?" Jackie inquired in a sincere tone. It was clear that she was trying to say many other things with that question.

"I don't know!" Rose said "But I have to do something, don't I?!" She was annoyed at her mother's reaction. Why didn't she understand? This was a connection to the Doctor! It was Doctor-related and that was all that mattered, wasn't it?

"Rose, what do you think is inside that thing?"

"I don't know."

"Let's say you actually managed to get down there and open it. What do you think you would find? Instructions on how to get back to the Doctor?"

"No," she answered begrudgingly. Though, part of her did hope that there might be some clue down there that could help. "It isn't about that though.", she said. "Gallifrey was the Doctor's home. It was destroyed. It caused him so much pain. Mum, the look in his eyes when he thought about it... When I'd just sit with him offering comfort. Gallifrey feels so personal to me now, through him. I need to know more about it. I have to."

Jackie searched her daughter's eyes for a long moment and then nodded. "Alright. We'll talk to your father when he gets home. See if he can't get you on the project."

Rose smiled and embraced her mother. "Thanks for understanding, Mum."

* * *

It turned out the Super Cell (that's what he'd decided to call it) needed to charge up for a good twenty-four hours before it could be used. It was compatible with the TARDIS. The Doctor had found a spot under the console, at it's center, hidden beneath wires and circuits, that the Super Cell fit into perfectly. It had begun it's charging cycle immediately, and after careful analysis he discovered it would be ready in twenty-four hours.

It seemed too good to be true. By this time tomorrow he could be holding her in his arms! The Doctor was absolutely giddy. He tried to stay cautious in his hoping. There were so many variables, so many things that could go wrong. But he couldn't help being excited. He truly felt like this would work.

He hadn't slept in so long, even for him, and now that he was no longer consumed by his search he realized how exhausted he was. The last four months had completely drained him mentally, physically, and especially emotionally. He needed to rest, and the Super Cell's charging cycle gave him ample time to do so.

Opening the door to the bedroom, the Doctor really looked at it for the first time since Rose had gone. A pair of her trainers sat on the floor by the bed and one of her hoodies lay discarded on a chair in the corner. He walked over to the chair and picked it up. He pressed the soft fabric to his face and inhaled her fading scent. He ached for her. He couldn't wait to be with her.

The Doctor kicked off his shoes, removed his jacket and tie, unbuttoned his top three buttons and cuffs, and lay down on the bed clutching Rose's hoodie close to him. "I'm coming, Rose," he whispered, and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Rose stood atop a small hill of red grass on the edge of an alien forest with silver-leafed trees overlooking a beautiful city encased in a dome. The wind blew on her face bringing with it the scents of the foreign air and plant life. "Do they know?" she said as she sensed the Doctor walking up behind her.

"No, not yet," he said coming to stand beside Rose. "It's centuries off."

"S'beautiful," she said. "Only..."

"What?" he said curiously.

"They're so closed off."

The Doctor smiled, proud of her for finding the same flaw. "Yes, they are. That was pretty much their whole philosophy. 'Look, but don't touch.' They lived it literally as well as figuratively."

"Not you though," said Rose smiling at him.

"No," he agreed, smiling back. "Not me."

Rose's face suddenly turned serious. Tears began to sting at the back of her eyes as she remembered her reality. "I miss you," she choked out through the lump in her throat.

The Doctor gazed sadly, longingly at Rose. "I miss you too," he said, voice full of emotion. "So much."

They stepped toward each other to touch, but the sky exploded and wind ripped at the landscape as the light of a warm spring day turned blood red, engulfing everything.

"Rose!" screamed the Doctor and the air was ripped from his lungs as soon as his mouth had opened. He fought hard against the wind that pulled upward toward the black hole in the orange sky.

"Doctor!" Rose could feel her lungs collapsing as she screamed. The air was being sucked away as she struggled against the upward moving gale.

And then everything disappeared.

* * *

Rose sat bolt upright in her bed. She tried to remember the dream even as the pieces of it fell away. She remembered the Doctor was there. He was always there in her dreams, but this felt different somehow. She couldn't really remember anything else.

The sun shown gently through the window. It was morning. Rose had twenty minutes before she had to get up, but she didn't think she could get back to sleep now. She got up and headed down to the kitchen for a cup of tea. Whatever her dream had been, something about it seemed important. She thought so intently about it on her way to the kitchen that it took her a moment to realize that she'd gotten there.

The rest of the house was still asleep, except for the Preachers, who were usually up with the sun. She watched from the window as they did their morning work-out. They were like a small army. Mickey and Jake had recruited many more members than they originally had. It must not have been too hard to convince people after the Cybus scandal was exposed.

Mickey had always been something of a slacker back home, but looking at him now, he was like a whole new person. They'd all changed so much, herself very much included, since that fateful day the Doctor came into their lives. Even with the pain she felt at his loss, she was so grateful for every single moment, good and bad, that she had him in her life. It wasn't until him that she'd truly begun to live.

"Morning, Rose!" said Mickey coming into the kitchen. He was a bit out of breath from his workout.

"Morning," she answered as he got himself a bottle of water from the fridge.

He came and stood next to her, watching the rest of them out the window. "Your mum told me about the file you found. The one with the thing from the Doctor's planet."

Rose turned to him, trying to gauge his opinion, but his expression was unreadable as he continued to gaze out the window. "Yeah," she said looking back out onto the grounds.

"You gonna follow up on it?" he asked, turning to her.

"Of course! You know me! Always the curious one."

He smiled. He knew this meant more to her than some curiosity. "Got room for one more on that project?"

"You really wanna help?" she asked, a little suprised.

"'Course! I miss him too, you know."

"Yeah right!" she laughed.

"I do!" he said incredulously. "I know I wasn't too keen on him at first, and under the circumstances I think I was justified." Rose nodded. She had to give him that. "But you see the guy save the world a couple of times and he starts to grow on you."

Rose smiled. Mickey really was a good friend. She felt so bad for how she'd treated him after she'd met the Doctor.

"Besides," added Mickey, "The Doctor changed my life. I'm the man I am now because of him."

"Aw, Mickey. You got a bit of hero worship?" she teased.

"Mah," he shrugged, a little embarrassed. "He's a pretty impressive bloke."

"Yeah," she said a bit dreamily. "He is. ...It annoys you doesn't it?"

"Hell yeah."

They laughed. It was the first time she'd really smiled since being separated from the Doctor.

* * *

The Doctor's eyes snapped open. What was that? He'd been on Gallifrey with Rose. It was so strange. It felt so real. He sat up. Rose's hoodie was still clutched in his hand. Had he connected with her, or was it just a dream? He looked at the clock and all thoughts of the dream were driven from his head. The Super Cell was ready!

The Doctor hastily got his jacket, tie, and shoes on and bolted out of the bedroom towards the control room. The sight that greeted him when he arrived left him awestruck. The central column was pulsating with a bright purple light and the walls were swirling with a plethora of color and light. It was beautiful and frightening all at once.

He rushed to the control panel, worried that he had endangered his ship in his selfish haste to get to Rose. He lay his hand on the TARDIS's panel, trying to sense what she was feeling. She wasn't in pain or afraid. She felt...powerful. The Doctor smiled proudly. "Alright then!" he said. "You ready to go get our Rose?" The TARDIS whirred and pulsed a bit brighter in answer. His smile grew excitedly and he started flicking switches and pulling levers, tuning the navigator in to Rose's thought patterns. He prayed this would work.

* * *

Rose was driving to work, ready to meet with her father on her options regarding her discovery. She hoped she would be able to go down to the hatch during the study. She needed to get a closer look at it. She wouldn't be able to read it, but she felt like she needed to see it up close.

She bobbed her head along to the song on the radio until it started to sound weird. She reached down to adjust the frequency, but the sound remained. It was growing louder even. That was when it dawned on her. She knew that sound. She knew it by heart. But that was impossible! She turned the radio off and pulled the car over, turning off the engine. There was no way! She thought she was getting better, but she must've finally cracked from the grief. Then, as the whining, grinding noise grew deafening, directly in front of the car, a blue box faded into view about three feet above the ground. It fell the remaining feet with a heavy thud.  
The door opened.


	4. Chapter 4

The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS and looked back at her concerned. "That was a pretty rough ride! Hope it didn't hurt you too mu-" the Doctor stopped dead as he turned around. There in front of him, stepping out of a grey SUV, was Rose. Was this real? If it was, the TARDIS had certainly set herself a new record for precision.

Rose stood there, just staring. This was impossible, wasn't it? Was he really here? Had he found a way or had she simply gone mad? It was then that she realized she was moving towards him, and he toward her.

He was standing right in front of her. All those months, all that grief, and here they were. Rose was looking up at him, eyes wide and unsure and brimming with tears. The Doctor reached up and gently cupped her cheek. He did it as much to assure himself of this reality as he did to assure her.

Rose felt the Doctors cool hand on her face. This was real! Or real enough for her anyway. Tears started to fall from her eyes as she reached up and put her hand over his. Hundreds of thousands of unspoken words passed between their eyes in the short moment before his lips crashed down on hers kissing her desperately, and she returned the kiss with equal vigor.

He kissed her like a starving man. Swirling his tongue with hers, melting into her. He ran his tongue over the roof of her mouth and her teeth, tasting every inch, re-committing every sensation to memory. He pulled her body close to his, as close as he possibly could. "Rose," he moaned into her mouth.

Rose wound her hands through his hair. Oh, how she missed that messy hair of his. And his tongue was doing such amazing things inside her mouth. Oh, god, that tongue! And - Oh! - her imagination was not this good! He was pulling her body to his, but she pressed up even closer, pulling him down to her in turn. "Doctor," she gasped as he moved to her cheek, neck, and back up again. "I missed you so much!" she was crying. So many emotions were overwhelming her. Love, sadness, relief, joy, and so many more that were undefinable.

"I missed you too!" he said pulling away enough to look her in the eyes. He kissed her again, lighter, gentler this time, and rested his forehead against hers. "Oh, god, I missed you so much!" his voice broke with emotion and tears were falling from his face as well now. They kissed again. Slowly and tenderly. Oh, how he loved this woman. "Oh!" he said suddenly remembering. Rose looked at him confused. The Doctor stood back at arms length and it took all his strength to stand so far from her. "There was something I meant to tell you," he said jovially.

"What?"

The Doctor held her by the shoulders, expression turning serious. He looked deep into her eyes and let go of all restraints, showing all his emotion plainly on his face. "Rose Tyler..." She looked up at him, anticipating. "I love you!" And she was beaming now, tears of joy welling up in her eyes. "I am so in love with you!" he continued. "Madly, powerfully, painfully, heartsbreakingly, crazy in love!"

Rose was so happy, full to bursting with joy beyond any she had ever known, when their lips met again passionately. "How did you get here?" she asked when they broke apart. _Who cares?!_, screamed a voice in her head. _He's here! Keep kissing him!_

"The Face of Boe helped me out."

"Oh." They were silent for a moment as they stood there, him resting his forehead against hers. "I thought I'd never see you again!" she, said starting to cry again.

"Me too," he said sadly. "The thought terrified me. I would have searched for eternity if I had to. If it meant getting you back, I'd have done anything."

"I was looking too," Rose said. "I learned a lot about quantum physics," she said with a smile.

The Doctor smiled back. "My Rose is so clever."

Rose smiled brightly, then her face became emotional again and she hugged him tightly. "I love you."

He buried his face in her hair, breathing her in. God, how he'd missed her scent. He held her tight and felt something warm against his chest. "What's that?" he asked pulling away.

"Oh," she smiled and reached into her shirt, pulling out a key on a chain.

"You kept it," he was touched.

"Of course," she said smiling. "It was all I had of you."

He smiled. "The TARDIS missed you too, you know."

"Oh, and I missed her!" said Rose smiling at the ship.

The Doctor stood back motioning for her to step inside. Rose smiled at him and made her way toward the ship she'd called home for two and a half years. Inside was darker than usual and the gentle hum she remembered so well wasn't there. "Is she alright?" asked Rose.

"She will be. She's just a bit burnt out. It was a rough trip," he said going to the console. He knelt down and opened the bottom panel. The Super Cell was fried. It was no longer a light frosty purple, but a cloudy grey with black char marks all over and a light smoke coming off it. It was only usable once. The Doctor had expected as much. "And this," he said reaching for it with a cloth to protect his hand. He took it out, showing it to Rose. "This is what got me here."

"What is it?"

"I'm not sure myself," he said. "But it's busted now. One-way ticket.", he tossed it up in the air and caught it again, setting it down on the console.

Rose ran her hand along the console, stroking it. She'd often made fun of him for stroking the TARDIS, but she really did love this ship. Perhaps it sounded odd, but this ship was like a sister to her. She'd grown such a kinship with the TARDIS over her time in it's walls. She looked up at the Doctor to find him staring at her intensely.

"I really did miss you," he said. He still felt he hadn't conveyed the painful extent to which he'd needed her.

"Missed you too." No matter how much she said it, she didn't think he could ever know how much she meant it.

He leaned down slowly and she came up to meet him, catching each other's lips in a slow lingering kiss. Their mouths opened wider, tongues delving deeper, with each movement of their lips. The Doctor took Rose by the waist with one hand and pulled her to him placing the other one on her back and gliding it up into her hair as she wound her arms around his neck. He kissed down her neck and then back up to nibble lightly on her earlobe.

Oh, how Rose had missed this. His lips on her felt so good, like a rainstorm after a long drought. She slipped her hands under his long coat, trying to push it off. Getting the message, the Doctor brought his arms back, not breaking the kiss, and let the coat fall off him and onto the floor. He immediately wrapped his arms back around her and tried to walk her backwards towards the bedroom without bringing their mouths apart. Then, finding it hard not to trip over her feet, he gave up and broke the kiss, taking her by the hand and running to the bedroom.

As soon as they were through the door they were kissing again, desperate and hungry. Rose grabbed the Doctor's face in her hands and pulled him to her. He gladly obliged, winding his tongue with hers as she wound her hands in his hair, massaging his scalp. God, but he loved that! She sucked softly on his tongue and his hands moved lower, down to her bum, pulling her into him. She could feel his growing hardness pressing on her belly through his trousers. She kicked off her heels and hopped up wrapping her legs around his narrow waist, feeling the pressure of his bulge where she needed it. He held her up by her backside and they tumbled backwards onto the bed.

The Doctor propped himself up, hovering over her and falling into her eyes. He still needed to reassure himself that she was really here. "Rose," he said brushing the hair from her face.

Rose reached up and gently lay her hand on his face. "Tell me this is real," she said, her voice breaking a bit at the words.

"I'm real if you are," he said teasingly. He needed to know the same thing.

The non-committal answer was so him, and that was enough to convince her. She pulled him down by his tie for another passion filled kiss. She'd been so long without him, thinking she'd never see him again. And now, here she was, lying beneath him. She could feel his double heartbeat on her chest as he thrust his tongue in her mouth, rocking his hips against hers, creating friction and making the heat pool between her thighs.

He kissed and licked a hungry trail down her neck and to her collarbone where he ran into the dark pink fabric of her button up shirt. He tore off the shirt and navy blue blazer and descended upon her breasts, snaking his arms under her back and trying to unhook her bra. Oh, the taste of her! Just like he remembered. Salty with sweat on the surface and that sweet and spicy flavor that was so distinctly Rose.

He'd torn the buttons off her shirt and jacket, but she didn't notice or care. Rose slid her hands up his back, painfully aware of how many clothes he was wearing. Too many. She worked her hands between them, returning the favor and ripping the one button that was keeping his pinstriped jacket closed. She slid it off and he cooperated pulling his arms back and sliding them out of the sleeves.

The Doctor quickly returned his hands to his task and removed her bra. He stopped for a moment, simply admiring her perfect breasts. Then he dipped his head down, capturing her left nipple in his mouth, flicking it with his tongue and tugging at it lightly with his teeth, eliciting a small cry from Rose. Such a beautiful sound. He thought he'd never hear her cries of pleasure again. He cupped her other breast in his hand, rubbing his thumb lightly over her nipple in little circles, feeling it harden under his touch.

Such simple touches, and they were driving her crazy. She felt the Doctor run his hand down her side toward the waist of her navy blue pants. Oh, no. She wasn't losing any more clothing until he did. Rose deftly flipped him over, straddling his lap. He chuckled, and his husky voice sent a shiver of pure lust up her spine. She lent down and kissed him deeply, feeling tips of her breasts rub against the fabric of his shirt. She placed soft kisses along his jaw line, untiing his tie, until she reached his neck. She never could figure out why she found his neck so erotic. Such a plain body part on any other man, but his neck drove her wild. Rose unbuttoned his shirt as she kissed and sucked along his neck, making him moan. A sound that drew incredible reactions from her body. She reached his adam's apple and licked straight over it up to his chin where she place a small kiss, causing him to make a surprised sound. His shirt was open now and she kissed down his chest licking one of his nipples and catching it between her teeth, making him hiss through clenched teeth. She pulled away blowing lightly on the wet nub before giving the other the same treatment.

The Doctor moaned and pulled her head up for another kiss, turning them over so he was on top of her again. He trailed wet kisses down her chest mimicking her actions on her nipples. She moaned arching her breast into his mouth and he slid his hand, feather light, down her side causing her to shiver. He placed a light trail of kisses down her abdomen until he reached her waist where he quickly undid her trousers and peeled them off along with her knickers.

She watched him through heavy, lust filled eyes as he brought her left leg up and kissed her ankle, moving down her leg and up her thigh to where she desperately needed him.

She was wet and ready for him and he felt his cock twitch at the sight of her, straining painfully against the fabric his trousers. Still, he wanted to bring her to the brink before satisfying his own needs. He ran his tongue along her opening prompting a beautiful sound from Rose that was somewhere between a squeal and a moan. He covered her clit with his mouth swirling his tongue around the sensitive nub.

Rose cried out and gripped the bed sheets as he slid one long finger into her while he worked magic with his tongue on her most sensitive area. "Doctor!" she cried when he added another finger, twisting them inside her just right and hitting that spot only he could.

Her cries were driving him mad. He removed his fingers and she whimpered at the loss until he moved his mouth down and delved his tongue between her folds. She cried out, throwing her head back and he moved his hand to rub at her clit with his thumb. She rewarded him with the constant moan of his name between cries of pleasure.

She could feel her climax building. One talented move of his tongue and she was toppling over the edge. "Ah! DOCTOR!"

Rose shuddered as she came, her juices flowing into his mouth. He lapped them up, relishing in the taste of her. She pulled him up to her for another deep kiss. She could taste herself on him as their tongues intertwined. She slipped the open shirt off his arms and flipped him over, taking control again. She kissed down his torso, stopping to lick around his navel before following the sparse path of hair down toward where he needed her to be. She traced the line of his waistband with her tongue and she felt him shiver as he moaned. She really thought his moans were the most beautiful sound in the universe. She undid his trousers and pulled them down along with his black boxer-briefs.

The Doctor moaned with relief when she freed his erection, gasping when the cold air hit it. Then she was running her hands up his legs, placing little kisses on his thighs. So close, yet so far from where he wanted her.

She ran her hand up his shaft and he bucked involuntarily into her hand as she wrapped it around his thick, throbbing cock. She felt the oh so right double pulse beneath the silky soft skin stretched over the rock hard organ. The head was already leaking a small bead of pre-cum and she dipped her head down, licking it off. The Doctor gasped and cried out when he felt her tongue on him. Rose smiled and placed a loving kiss on the tip before taking him into her mouth. She loved the feel of him in her mouth. Loved the double pulse beat on her tongue, the look on his face and the helpless noises he made. That she could reduce the most powerful man in the universe to a trembling mess, that he let her do this, and knowing that this was a side he showed only to her, made her feel special.

The Doctor moaned. Oh, she was good at this! His hand wound it's way through Rose's hair as she bobbed her head up and down, taking him into her mouth as much as she could, working magic with her tongue, swirling it at the tip and coming back down. He had long since lost control. He was completely at her mercy. He wouldn't be able to hold on much longer if she kept this up. "Rose, please! I'm gonna come!"

She made an "Mmm" sound against his cock and the resulting vibration sent him over the edge. He came into her mouth, throwing his head back and screaming her name. "ROSE!"

Rose swallowed him hungrily as he came down her throat. She let him fall from her mouth with a little 'pop' and crawled seductively back up his body catching his panting mouth in a deep, hot kiss.

He could taste himself on her tongue as her lips worked on his and their tongues danced against each other. It turned him on so much. He slid his hands down her body, cupping her arse with one and running the other up her back as he turned them over. He looked down at her beautiful face. Cheeks flushed, hair fanned across the pillow, chest heaving, and eyes full of complete trust and the purest love. No one else in all of time and space could make him feel the way she did. He kissed her sweetly on the forehead and then the mouth before laying his forehead on hers. "I love you," he said.

Rose felt her heart well up at hearing those words from his lips again. She would never get tired of hearing that. "I love you too." She would never get tired of saying it either. She kissed him again, deep and passionate, pouring her soul into him. God, how had she lasted four months without his kisses? His hand moved to her breast, massaging it and rolling his thumb and forefinger around the nipple. No longer was she satisfied and sated. She shivered needing more. Needing to feel him inside her. She reached between them pulling his cock to rest between their bellies. He moaned into her mouth as she began rubbing it, quickly making him hard again.

He kissed along her collarbone and licked a line up her neck. She gave a little cry of pleasure. He knew she loved his tongue. Frankly, he did too. It was so very sensitive. He loved this body in general. Every single one of his senses (except sight) was heightened tenfold. Like all his nerves were just below the surface, trying to get out. Touch, taste, smell, psychic sense. He felt them all on a level he hadn't known possible before this body. It also made him very easily aroused, which he was very grateful for at the moment. Her hand on him made fire flow through his veins and he bucked against her, pressing himself into her soft touch. Before long he was hard again. He needed to be inside her, to feel her wet heat enveloping him. He moved back to hover over her entrance and kiss her again, hard, as he slid into her.

Rose cried out as she felt him enter her. Oh, how she'd missed this. He slid out of her almost completely and thrust back in, sheathing himself to the hilt. It sent shivers through her whole body, and her hips rose to meet his movements as he thrust in and out of her.

They rocked against each other. Slowly at first, but quickly speeding up. Her cries driving him forward as he buried himself in her, tearing guttural moans from his throat. God, she felt so good! Hot, wet, and tight around him as he slammed into her over and over. He was losing himself in her and loving it, knowing it as home.

Rose was blinded with pleasure, she was screaming, but she couldn't hear it. She couldn't even feel her body anymore. All she was was an existence of pure pleasure, lost to him as their souls and minds melted together. And he was in her mind, or she was in his, maybe both. She felt the pain, the loneliness and desperation he'd felt in her absence. The helplessness of thinking he'd never see her again and how much he'd hated himself in the moment he failed to tell her he loved her.

The Doctor was in her mind. This usually happened when they made love. Their bond was so strong. He felt the loneliness and sadness she'd felt while she was here without him. He saw the days after her arrival when she wouldn't get out of bed, lost in her memories of him. He felt the emptiness she felt when he'd faded away that day on the beach. And he was so, so sorry for causing her such pain. He sent those thoughts of apology to her and felt her forgiveness flowing back to him.

Tears flowed down her cheeks as the sadness broke into relief and back into pleasure. Her body was rocketing to ecstasy as he moved within her and she raked her hands down his back, pulling him into her and begging him to move faster, deeper, harder.

The Doctor complied with her pleas. Pounding into her, pulling her closer and angling himself just so. Hitting that spot that always drove her mad. He felt himself falling, so close to climax. He kissed her hard, his tongue mimicking the movements of his cock, thrusting into her mouth and entangling with hers.

Rose was so close. She was fumbling toward ecstasy and he was leading her there. She tore her mouth from his, screaming as her orgasm rocked through her, raking her nails down his back, and trembling violently.

He felt her walls tighten around him sending him over the edge, falling with her as he came hard. He exploded inside of her, screaming her name to the heavens. He fell, exhausted and sated, against her. "Rose", he whispered it like a prayer as he rested his head on her breast.

Her hand found his head, stroking his hair softly as she trembled in the aftershocks of her orgasm. They lay there for a while, spent, not wanting to break the intimate contact. Rose kissed the top of his head gently and he looked up smiling and meeting her lips with his in a soft, sweet kiss.

The Doctor rolled over, taking Rose with him and she lay her head on his chest, tracing lazy circles with her fingers "Mmmm, I missed this," she said sleepily.

The Doctor smiled and pressed a kiss into her hair. "Mm, me too," he sighed, contented, as he rubbed the backs of his fingers lightly up and down her arm.

They lay there for a few minutes until the Doctor heard an annoying ringing sound. "What's that?" he said, looking around for the source.

"Hm?" Rose lifted her head looking around, and then realization dawned on her. "Oh! My mobile!"

She jumped out of the bed and searched for her jacket. She found it and took the mobile out of her pocket. Thirteen missed calls?! "Oh no." she answered it. "Hello?" she said sheepishly.

"So did you find him or did he find you?" came Mickey's voice.

"What?!"

"Pete called and said you never showed up for your meeting," he explained. "He sent me to find you. Imagine my surprise when I find your car by the side of the road in front of a blue police box."

"I'm so sorry! I just saw him and...we got to talking..."

"Talking, right," he said with a chuckle.

"I forgot. I'm sorry," she said.

"Well get out here, yeah? The both of you. Pete said he can get you down to your hatch with a team by tomorrow," and he hung up.

The hatch! She'd forgotten about that too! She turned and sat back down on the bed with the Doctor. "Doctor," she started. "I forgot to tell you. I...found something."


	5. Chapter 5

"Gallifreyan? Are you sure?" said the Doctor as he slipped on his pinstriped jacket.

"Pretty sure. Looked just like it," said Rose as she put on one of her old tops and a pair of jeans. The shirt she came in with wouldn't close due to it's newfound lack of buttons. He had kept all her things exactly where she left them, and it warmed her heart. "Besides, it's the only alien language that doesn't get translated for me."

"You still got translations here?" he asked, surprised.

"Yeah. I was kinda surprised too," she said. "Guess the connection held."

The Doctor smiled warmly. "Guess so."

No one who traveled with him had ever had as strong a bond with the TARDIS as Rose. Still, just because it wasn't translated didn't make it Gallifreyan. The language on that planet with the black hole wasn't translated. That was so very rare though, so maybe... "Guess I'd better have a look."

"That's the plan," said Rose, as they headed out.

* * *

Mickey waited out by the van for the Doctor and Rose. He was shocked, really. How the hell had he managed to get here? Then again, this was the Doctor. You tell him something's impossible and he'll try that much harder.

"Mickey!" the Doctor greeted him as he stepped out of the TARDIS with Rose in tow. "How ya been mate?"

"Pretty good," said Mickey. "What took you so long?"

"Ah, well, modes of interdimensional transport are hard to come by these days," said the Doctor with a grin. "Where's Jakey-boy then?"

The mood shifted suddenly. "Ricky's grave," answered Mickey.

"...Oh." Suddenly the Doctor was sorry he'd asked.

"It's the anniversary of his death," Mickey explained. Everyone was silent for a moment, then, "S'funny, you showing up on the same day we first came here," he said, trying to lighten the mood.

Rose took the Doctor's hand. "We should get going," she said.

"Right," said the Doctor. "Um...About the TARDIS. I'm gonna need to take her with us."

"Well that's fine," said Mickey. "Fire it up. I'll just meet you there."

"Ah, yeah," the Doctor began, scratching behind his ear and then rubbing the back of his neck. "See, that's the thing. I can't."

"What? Why not?"

"The trip exhausted her circuits," explained Rose.

"That too, yeah," said the Doctor. "But also, the TARDIS' systems aren't set to navigate this dimension's vortex. I can't move her freely here without extensive rewiring."

"Dad could send a truck down," offered Rose.

"Sounds good to me," said the Doctor. "Well, then. Shall we?" he gestured to the van.

The three of them were seated beside each other in the front of the van. Mickey drove, of course. The Doctor told Rose about the time he'd spent looking for a way to get to her and all the things he tried. Rose told the Doctor about her work at Torchwood and all the quantum physics she'd been teaching herself, and the theories she'd explored looking for a way to get back. Mickey and Rose both told the Doctor about the work the Preachers had been doing. They were all caught up by the time they got to the mansion.

The Doctor braced himself as he entered the door. And sure enough, "You!" came the voice of Jackie Tyler as she came down the hall, four and a half months pregnant and quite moody.

"Hello, Jackie!" said the Doctor as pleasantly as he could manage.

"What took you so long?! You think you can just leave my daughter brokenhearted, and then pop over here and expect to be welcomed back into our lives with open arms?!"

He wanted to say, 'I didn't want to leave her.' He wanted to say, 'I was brokenhearted too.' He didn't though. He'd learned his lesson there. Struggling against the wrath of Jackie only made it worse. So, he just stood there looking sheepish and sorry.

"Well," she said calmly "Welcome back," and she smiled and gave him a big hug. "We missed you."

Jackie let go of the surprised Doctor. "Thanks," he said sincerely.

"Now, then," she said "Tea?"

"Tea sounds great," said the Doctor with a smile.

They sat at the kitchen table and drank their tea. The Doctor would never admit it but, as bad as her cooking was, no one made a cuppa like Jackie Tyler.

"These are the files," said Rose sitting down next to the Doctor and handing him a stack of folders.

He opened them and put on his glasses. The first few pages were nothing special. A Quillka ship had crashed into the ocean off the coast of Sweden. Some of the debris had fallen down a trench and they had to send a team of deep sea submersibles down to retrieve them. What they found down there was why the doctor was looking.

"Impossible," the Doctor said aloud. There were many photographs, from different angles and distances of an extremely ancient looking large octagonal hatch. The ground around it seemed to spiral outward. As if the Earth had shifted around it over the eons, but this was a fixed point. The writing was most certainly from Gallifrey. And right in the center was a symbol. A seal every Gallifreyan knew very well. The seal of Rassilon.

"I was right, wasn't I?" asked Rose. "It's from Gallifrey."

The Doctor looked up, as if he had just remembered everyone else was there. "Oh, yes," he said in a heavy voice.

"What's it say?"

"Whosoever claims the knowledge harbored within, claims the knowledge of the universe. Time, space, and eternal life to use as you see fit," said the Doctor in a far off voice.

Rose was stunned. All that information in one place? To use as you see fit? What if the wrong person found it? What was it doing here, in this dimension? And why Earth? The Doctor was still staring at nothing in particular, looking like his thoughts were worried in a far off place. "Doctor?" said Rose gently.

"Rose," he said looking at her, "This is the Library of Rassilon." He seemed floored by the concept.

"What's that mean? Who's Rassilon?"

The Doctor came back to himself. Of course this wouldn't mean anything to her. She didn't know who Rassilon was. He'd never bothered to tell her the history of his people. So he explained. "Rassilon was the first Time Lord. He was revered on my planet. A lot of it was propaganda, but he is the reason that my people became who they were. He held great knowledge. There was a rumor, not a well known rumor but known to some, that he stored his greatest secrets in a library of sorts and not on the matrix."

"You mean like that Keanu Reeves movie?" Mickey interrupted.

The Doctor gave Mickey an exasperated look. Mickey may have changed a lot, but he was still Mickey. "No. It was where we stored all the knowledge the Time Lords held," the Doctor answered. "Anyway, some thought he stored his secrets in this library. It was supposed to be hidden somewhere in the universe that no one would ever find. Of course that's meant to be true of anything being hidden, just doesn't always work. This though... I thought it was just a legend. Then again, I tend to be proven wrong on that front quite a bit."

"So, what are we gonna do?" asked Rose

The Doctor gave her a playfully shocked look. "What do you mean? We're gonna go down there of course!"

Rose smiled a smile she never thought she would again. The smile she always gave at the prospect of an adventure with the Doctor. And she would find out more about his world. She'd always wondered about it, but was afraid to ask. She found out some things. He'd told her the way his planet looked. She knew about the looms that they used to make children. The Doctor had explained that to her when she'd been shocked to find out that he'd not exactly had his children with another woman. He'd in fact had very few sexual partners over his very long life. He'd said that since Time Lords were all almost sterile, their libidos were almost completely dormant. She'd been quite flattered to learn that she was one of few to awaken those desires in him.

She also knew that he had never been fond of his own society, that he'd found them stuffy, pretentious, and emotionally repressed. That and the basics of the Time War were pretty much the sum of what she knew. She never wanted to pry. The far off look in his eyes when he thought of his home, the pain she saw there. It was enough to break her heart. So she simply let him tell her what he wanted to when he was ready.

The sound of a motorcycle came through the window, and Mickey's ears seemed to perk up. Jake was back. He was in a much better place now, about Ricky's death, than he used to be. Mickey was still concerned when he'd return from his visits, though. Jake would never quite meet his eyes for the rest of the day after he got back.

"Hello, all," said Jake as he came in. "I hear we have a visitor."

"Hello Jake!" the Doctor greeted him with a smile.

"Doctor." Jake came and sat down in the chair next to Mickey. "So, how'd you manage it, then?"

"A lot of looking and a bit of luck," said the Doctor as Jackie handed Jake a cup of tea and sat down herself.

"I don't care how you got here," said Rose, grasping his hand under the table. "I'm just glad to be with you again."

"Me too." The Doctor smiled sweetly holding her gaze and entwining his fingers with hers. An, oh so familiar action that they'd been deprived of for too long.

"You still going down to that alien manhole thing then?" Jake asked Mickey.

"Yeah, why not?"

"Nothing. Never mind."

The air was tense for a moment. "Tell you what," said Jackie breaking the momentary silence "Why don't we move into the sitting room, yeah? Pete should be home in a few, and we can talk plans for tomorrow."

"Sounds good," said Rose.

"Not me," said Jake, standing up. "I've got work to do with the troops." He gave a sideways glance at Mickey and left for the guesthouse.

"Jake!" Mickey called after him. "Jake, come on!" he followed him out.

* * *

"What was all that about?" the Doctor asked later. He and Rose were cuddled up together on the couch in front of the fireplace.

"What, with Jake and Mickey?" said Rose. "I'm not entirely sure. Ever since Mickey said he'd help me with the hatch, Jake's seemed a bit miffed at him." She really didn't understand why. They usually got on so well. Best mates even. But something had Jake upset lately and Rose didn't know what.

She listened to the soothing sound of the Doctor's double heartbeat as she lay her head on his chest. "I missed that sound. Thud-da-thump, thud-da-thump," she tried to imitate the noise and felt his chest rumble as he chuckled. "I'm so glad you came back for me."

The Doctor tilted Rose's chin up to look in her eyes. "I will always come for you, Rose," he said. "Always."

Rose smiled and kissed him softly. As she pulled away he leaned forward and kissed her again, and then another, until they were eventually snogging on the couch like teenagers. Then they heard the car coming up the drive. "Ah!" said the Doctor when Rose pulled away from on top of him. "That'll be the TARDIS!" He got up and ran to the window. The TARDIS was in the flatbed of a large truck as it came to a stop in front of the house. Pete stepped out of the passenger side and went to the back of the truck to help the driver undo the straps securing her. "A personal delivery. I'm flattered."

* * *

Pete had been stunned to learn that the Doctor was once again in this dimension. He'd said it was impossible when he spoke to Rose on the beach. Was he here to stay, or was he taking Rose back with him? Jackie would be devastated if he did.

"Need hand?" said the Doctor as he and Rose stepped out onto the drive.

"Yeah. This thing ain't half heavy," said the driver, who was attempting to push the TARDIS onto the ramp.

"You wouldn't think so if you'd seen the inside," said Rose.

"Nice to see you again, Pete," said the Doctor, shaking his hand.

"You too, Doctor."

The Doctor wasn't quite as fond of this Pete Tyler as he was of the one in his universe. He found him rather colder than the first Pete he knew. Maybe that was just something money did to you. He didn't dislike him though, and Rose thought of him as her father. Besides, at his core he was still Pete Tyler. It was just the circumstances that made him different on the surface.

Once they got the TARDIS down, they situated her on the lawn, and the Doctor got to work fiddling with her straight away. It was dark inside. She was almost completely powered down. The Doctor had to use a torch to check out the wires under the console. Rose watched from the seat in front of the console as the Doctor's form wiggled under the grating and soniced random bits of machinery. It felt good to be on this ship again, watching the Doctor work (even if she couldn't see him very well). She yawned and suddenly realized how very tired she was.

"You should get some rest," said the Doctor from under the console. "It's been a pretty eventful day."

"Mm-mm. I'm fine," she said stifling another yawn that rendered her statement ineffective.

"Really?" said the Doctor, popping up from under the grating and arching an eyebrow.

"It's just..." she started shakily, "I don't want to wake up to find that this was all a dream. That you're not here."

The Doctor's face sobered as he gazed at her. He stood slowly and came quietly to Rose's side, holding out his hand. She took it, and they silently made their way out of the TARDIS and up to Rose's bedroom. When they got there he stood in front of her and placed a tender kiss on her forehead. Without a hint of intent, the Doctor began to remove his clothes. Rose followed suit. She took off her jeans and he stripped down to his pants, and they climbed into bed together. He held her close, assuring her of his presence through the night and she drifted off to sleep in his cool embrace.

And somewhere, in the depths of the Earth, something stirred, waiting.


	6. Chapter 6

The Doctor started awake with a confused and sleep fogged "Bwuh?" next to Rose, who woke with an equally sleepy "Mmnuh" to the sound of impatient banging on the bedroom door.

"Up an' at 'em!" Jackie yelled through the door "You've got to leave in ten minutes."

Rose grabbed the clock. 5:30am?! "S'so early," she whined. She looked back at the Doctor, who was still looking at the door like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Do you think she knew I was in here?" he said fearfully.

Rose rolled out of bed, laughing at him. The man had faced the devil himself and won, but he was terrified of her mother. It was positively adorable. The fact that his hair was sticking out at all ends definitely added to that. "Honestly, what is it about my mum?"

"She's terrifying!" he said in indignation.

"Oh, yeah? How so?" she asked, stifling a giggle, as she opened the dresser and sifted through the hangers looking for and outfit. "What could she do to you that's so much worse than all the things we've faced?"

Rose felt the Doctor's arms wrap around her waist from behind as he rested his cheek against the side of her head. "She could take you away from me," he said. "And I'd be powerless to stop her."

It felt like something warm had just gone through Rose's heart. Here she was thinking that it was merely cute and amusing, when there was a deeper meaning behind it. She leant back into him, putting her arms over his. "Not true," she said. "I'm a grown woman. She can't dictate my life. And besides," she said, turning around and folding her arms around his neck, "Nothing could keep me from you."

The Doctor smiled and kissed her lips softly. He so hoped what she said was true. He couldn't bear to be separated from her again.

"I need to take my shower," she said when they broke apart. "Wanna join me?", she asked smiling slyly.

"Ohhh," was the husky sound he made as she guided him into the bathroom. He just wished they had more than ten minutes.

* * *

Jackie entered the kitchen to find Pete drinking coffee at the counter. "Why don't you sit down?" she said.

"'Cause I'll just have to get up again," he replied as if it should be obvious. "Too many things need doing before we go."

Jackie sighed and shook her head as she sat down with her tea. She had too much on her mind to press the issue. The Doctor was back, but what did that mean? Was he going to whisk Rose away again, off to the stars? If so, would it be in this dimension or their home one? She liked having her daughter home everyday now, knowing she was safe. She wasn't happy here though. Jackie knew that. She knew it would be selfish to try and keep Rose here, but she couldn't help wanting to. Then she felt a comforting hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Pete.

"It'll be alright," he said as if reading her mind.

"What if I never see her again?"

"She'll be with the Doctor. She'll be safe."

Jackie tried to take comfort in that thought, but she couldn't. With the Doctor was possibly the least safe place she could be. Still, she couldn't help feeling like she was wrong for wanting her to stay.

Mickey came in, closing the door, perhaps a little harder than he meant to, and went to pouring himself some cereal without saying good morning. Jackie and Pete exchanged looks. He was clearly upset about something. "Good morning, Mickey," said Jackie, when he sat down at the table.

"Morning," he said offhandedly.

"Good morning!" said the Doctor coming in, happily a polar opposite in mood from Mickey and wearing a wide goofy grin. He was closely followed by Rose, who had an equally ethereal smile and the same bounce in her step.

"Morning!" said Rose as she poured her tea and came to sit at the table.

The Doctor grabbed a banana and plopped down next to Rose, kissing her on the cheek. He hadn't even realized he'd done it until after the fact. Everyone looked momentarily surprised and perhaps slightly amused, but quickly averted their gaze. He had been officially together with Rose for nearly a year before they were separated, but they'd never shown overt signs of it in front of people they knew. Kissing her on the cheek at the breakfast table in front of her family was reaching a whole new level of domesticity. Surprisingly, the Doctor found that, aside from being slightly embarrassed, he didn't mind it. He cleared his throat and peeled his banana, taking a bite before speaking. "So, we arrange for a boat?" he asked, mouth full, merely to shift interest off himself and Rose.

"A research vessel," said Pete. "Well equipped. There's even some adapted alien technology onboard."

"Will I be able to go down?" asked Rose.

"I'm not going under without her," said the Doctor.

"I knew you'd say that," said Pete. "And, yes, Rose. You will be going under. It's three to a submersible, and there'll be two subs."

"And me?" asked Mickey, no longer quite as grumpy.

"You'll be in the second sub," he answered "It'll be the Doctor, Rose, and a crew member in Sub-1 and Mickey and two other crew members in Sub-2."

"What about you?" asked Rose.

"Someone has to stay up top and oversee the operation," Just then there were two honks from outside. "And that'll be our ride. Everyone ready?"

They all nodded and got up, heading out the door. Pete gave Jackie a kiss. "Bye, luv."

"Bye," said Jackie. "Be safe." Jackie watched him go. She always said 'be safe' when he left, but she meant it now more than ever. The Doctor was here, and that meant danger. She couldn't bear to lose Pete all over again.

* * *

The company van arrived at the docks and everyone filed out. Their ship was a large white research vessel called 'The Lady of Truth'. Two small yellow submersibles hung from what looked like two sets of large lifeboat cranes on the port and starboard sides.

"Mr. Tyler!" a stout, bearded man in his fifties or sixties, wearing a gray wool sweater and a dark blue jacket greeted him as he came down the gangplank.

"Captain Pearce." Pete shook his hand.

"These my new crew, then?" said Captain Pearce, nodding to the group.

Pete nodded and introduced them. "This is Rose and Mickey. And this," he said coming over to the Doctor, "is the Doctor. He's our expert. If anyone can tell you about that hatch it'll be him."

The Doctor really wished Pete hadn't said that. He didn't really want anyone to know the contents of that chamber. He didn't know these people or what they would do with that information.

"You got a name, Doctor?" asked Captain Pearce, shaking his hand.

"No, just 'the Doctor' is fine."

The Captain raised an eyebrow, but decided to let it go. He turned to Pete, telling him he had a few things to discuss with him on the bridge. "Get your bags and meet O'Malley on the deck," he said to the rest of the group. "He'll show you to your cabins."

The Doctor, Rose, and Mickey were getting their bags when they heard a voice behind them.

"So," said Jake "Where do I put my stuff?"

"What are you doing here?" said Mickey angrily.

"I decided to take you up on your offer," he said. "You said I could come."

"That was befo- And you said you didn't wanna come!"

"I changed my mind!"

The Doctor and Rose looked on as Mickey left for the ship in a huff. The Doctor leaned over, whispering in Rose's ear. "You go after him. I'll talk to Jake."

Rose nodded and followed Mickey up the gangplank. Jake was just about to follow when the Doctor caught him by the shoulder. "Jakey-boy!" he said in a friendly tone, but changed in a snap to serious. "Why don't you tell me what this is all about."

Jake hesitated, deciding whether to say 'None of your business' or confide in him. He eventually decided on the latter.

* * *

Rose had to walk quite quickly to keep up with Mickey. "Mickey!" she called. He stopped, but he didn't turn around. "What's been going on with you two?" she asked. "You've been at it ever since I found that hatch."

"I don't know what his problem is!" he said whirling around and gesturing in the general direction of where they left Jake and the Doctor. "Ever since I told him I was gonna help you with this thing he's been short with me!"

"Why?"

"I don't know! He acts like I should spend all my time with him and the crew!"

That didn't sound right. Jake wasn't an unreasonable person. There had to be something else. "Are you sure that's all that's upsetting him?"

* * *

"It's just," Jake started. "You and Rose..."

"Me and Rose?" What on earth did this have to do with them?

"He always talks about you two. It's understandable with Rose now. She's here. He sees her everyday. But four years, four years it was just me and him and he talked about you two all the time. Rose especially. I knew he didn't really want to be here, but I needed him here. I listened to his stories. I could tell how much he loved her, how much he admired you. I didn't mind, really. But then Rose got stuck here. Don't get me wrong! Rose is great. I just felt... I dunno, ignored or something. Then she found that hatch, and Mickey said it was from your planet. He started spending less time with me, and they would talk about things that I wasn't in on."

As the Doctor listened he realized what was happening. The tables had turned. Jake was going through what Mickey had gone through when Rose had started traveling with him.

"And now you're here," he finished. "And I guess I just feel...left out."

* * *

"Did you ever think, maybe he was jealous?" said Rose. They were sitting on a life jacket bin. Mickey had just told her about the arguments he'd had with Jake over the past few days.

"Jealous?!" said Mickey. "What would he have to be jealous about?!"

Men can be so thick. "Well he's like your best mate, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Well, maybe you haven't noticed, but you've really been neglecting him and the Preachers lately."

He was about to protest, but when he thought about it, she was right. He'd been so absorbed in helping Rose that he'd been shirking his other duties. "So... He's jealous of you?"

"Maybe."

"But it's different with you. He knows that. We have a history."

"Doesn't make him feel any less left out."

Now Mickey felt guilty. He'd been ignoring his best friend. Of course he was gonna be upset. Maybe he should apologize. But he couldn't just walk up to him and say 'sorry' out of nowhere. His pride wouldn't let him do that.

* * *

They all met on the aft deck. Mickey and Jake weren't fighting anymore, but they were awkward. They'd greeted each other with offhanded grunts. At least it was progress. O'Malley was waiting for them. O'Malley was a well built, unshaven Irishman.

"Wasn't there supposed to be just three of you?" he asked, confused.

"Change of plans," said Mickey. Jake looked to him and he gave a hint of a smile. Jake smiled back. Rose guessed this was his way of saying he was sorry.

"Well, we just have two cabins, and there's only two beds in each."

"The Doctor and I can share a cabin," said Rose. The Doctor smiled and took her hand.

"Oh, I didn't realize," said O'Malley with a knowing smile. "Well then, I guess it's not a problem."

They walked down the narrow halls, and O'Malley gave them a tour. There was a modest galley, a lounge, a research room, and a few other rooms of no consequence. Unlike the TARDIS, this ship was much smaller on the inside.

The Doctor and Rose were shown to their cabin after Jake and Mickey. It was small with a set of bunk beds that were, unfortunately, a bit narrower than normal beds.

"Oh, we'll make it work," said the Doctor, surveying the bottom bunk. "We're both thin and we don't roll around too much."

"Yeah, I suppose," said Rose.

A few minutes later, the horn sounded signaling their departure followed by the rumbling of the engines and the sense of movement. Rose and the Doctor headed topside to watch as the ship pulled out of the harbor. They stood there quietly, the Doctor holding Rose from behind, resting his chin on the top of her head.

"Beautiful isn't it?" said a voice behind them. It was a dark haired man in his thirties, wearing a black turtleneck and jeans.

"Yeah," said Rose. "I've only ever been out on the ocean once before. My mum took me whale watching for my eighth birthday."

"This'll be much better than that," said the man with a chuckle. "Just wait 'till we get out to open waters." He held out his hand. "Spencer," he introduced himself. "Spencer Adams."

"Rose Tyler," she said shaking his hand.

"I'm the Doctor," said the Doctor, doing the same.

"Oh, your that expert the Cap was talking about!" said Spencer. "So, any idea what's down there?"

"No. Not yet." It wasn't quite a lie. He couldn't be sure if there really was anything down there, and if there was anything, he didn't know exactly what it would be. Anything that ended in 'of Rassilon' usually spelled danger for the person seeking it.

"I tell ya," said Spencer. "That place just gives me a bad feeling. I went down there on the first mission. I was the one who spotted it. I wish I hadn't." He had a far off look in his eyes. He seemed frightened of the memory. "The earth spirals out of it, as if it's running away. It just reeks of something ancient, something that shouldn't be touched."

"You think it's dangerous?" asked Rose.

"Not sure. Just think it ought to be left alone."

Just then, the captain's voice came over the loudspeaker. "Will all guests and crew please meet in the galley."

"Guess we should go," said the Doctor. As he walked to the galley with Rose and Spencer he tried to suppress the sense of dread rising in his chest.


	7. Chapter 7

"Well," said Captain Pearce, once they were all gathered at the table in the galley. "Time for introductions."

There were ten crew members in the room besides the captain. There were five seats at the table, at which sat the Doctor, Rose, Mickey, Jake, and an unknown woman. A brunette in a ponytail. The other crew members stood at attention around the small room.

"You've already met Frank O'Malley," said the Captain, gesturing to the man on his left. O'Malley waved. "He's my first mate. You get an order from him, you should take it the same as if it came straight from me own mouth."

He moved to a man in his forties wearing a sweater, khakis and timberland boots. "This is Chris McCullough. He's our bowman. He makes sure everything stays ship-shape so to speak," he laughed at his own joke.

"Hello," said Chris, revealing a Scottish brogue.

"That's Rick Jensen. He's our cook," said Captain Pearce, pointing to a large man behind the counter, wearing a stained white apron.

"Pay no attention to the man behind the counter," said Rick with a smile. He would look quite threatening, if it weren't for his light demeanor.

"And then there's my general crew," continued Pearce, pointing to a group of men toward the back of the room. "That's Bobby, Dean, Colin, and Spencer."

The Doctor and Rose already knew Spencer. Rose gave him a little wave. Then Pete stepped up. "I suppose I'd better introduce my lot," he said. "I'm Pete Tyler. That's Rose, the Doctor, Mickey, and Jake." He pointed to each of them in turn and they all waved hello. "And this is the rest of our research team," he added moving to the three unaccounted for, including the brunette in the ponytail. "Rachel Harris, our alien cultures expert," the ponytailed woman gave a shy wave. Perhaps it was a bit pointless to have her on board now that the Doctor was here, but the team was assembled before Pete was notified of the Doctor's arrival. He continued introducing the remaining two. "Ron Warren, our oceanographer," Ron was a tall man with strawberry blond hair, and he seemed pretty young for his position. He was maybe in his mid-twenties, not much older than Rose. "And Aaron Novier, our sonar specialist." Aaron Novier was an Indian man in his early thirties and had a mop of black hair and a goatee.

"Hi," said Aaron with a smile and a wave.

"Right," said Captain Pearce, clapping his hands together, "Now that that's out of the way, we can get to work! Meals are served at 7:30am, noon, and 8:00pm. It's first come, first served, so don't be late!"

The rest of the day went quite smoothly. The Doctor spoke with Rachel about alien cultures. She seemed quite eager to learn, but every time she inquired about the origin of the hatch he deftly sidestepped the question. Rose saw some dolphins swimming along the side of the boat and smiled fondly when she saw the Doctor's face light up like a little boy at the sight of them. He was so easily excited. Mickey spent much of the time trying to convince each man at the helm to let him have a turn at the wheel using the argument that he once flew a zeppelin and 'how different could it be'. Jake, more sensibly, spent his time learning sailing skills from the crew.

After dinner, the men of the crew invited Jake, Mickey, and the Doctor to drink and play cards in the galley. Jake and Mickey accepted, but the Doctor declined saying he had plans with Rose. He received a couple of hearty chuckles and a friendly slap on the back for this information, which he found rather crude, but there was a natural undercurrent of male pride as well.

* * *

Rose was lying on the bed, reading. She'd discovered that the top bunk could be folded up into the wall, letting her feel less enclosed while she lay down. She knew the men were going to have a card game that night and they'd probably invite the Doctor to join. Just then, the door opened and the Doctor slipped inside.

"I thought you would be joining the other blokes," said Rose.

"I've got better things to do," he said, walking to the bed and sitting beside her.

Rose put her book down on the night stand. "Yeah? What are you doing here then?" she asked teasingly, as the Doctor leaned forward, hovering his face close to hers.

"Better things," he said, and he kissed her slowly, seductively, catching her bottom lip lightly in his teeth as he pulled away.

"Mmm, I'll say," said Rose with a shaky breath.

The Doctor smiled confidently. He loved her voice like that. So full of lust. Heavy and silky, like chocolate mousse, but with a twinge of something tart and mischievous, like raspberry. He leaned forward, kissing her again. Deeper this time, letting her know how much he wanted her. He levered one hand under her waist, scooting them down the bed so they lay flat. He pulled away, hovering over her for a moment, just to look at her. Memorize the curve of her full, supple lips, the rise and fall of her chest, the love in her eyes as she gazed up at him, anticipating. He felt his hearts swell to bursting with his love for her, and the thought found it's way in again. The thought that one day, this would all be gone. She would wither and die, like all roses do. She would be gone and there really would be no way to bring her back. He pushed it out of his mind. She was here now, and he would make every second last as long as he could. He would etch it all into his memory so it would stay crisp and clear forever.

The Doctor leaned down and kissed her forehead lovingly. He then placed light kisses along her hairline, until he reached her ear, where he ran his tongue along the edge and sucked gently on the lobe, eliciting a little gasp and a sigh from Rose. He continued kissing his path downward, along her jaw line, down her neck where the kisses became wetter, more insistent and she started to moan. He stopped just at the hollow of her throat, where he played his tongue as he slowly unzipped her hoodie. He removed the hoodie and she sat up for a moment to slip her arms out of the sleeves. Rose lay back down and the Doctor removed his jacket and tie before continuing.

The Doctor caught her gaze and held it as he slid his hands up her denim covered legs. He dipped his head and kissed the patch of her belly peeking between her jeans and the hem of her t-shirt. Sliding his hands under the shirt, in a feather-light touch, he pushed it up as he kissed up her abdomen, dragging his tongue and bottom lip a little between each kiss.

Rose moaned and shivered slightly as he moved up her body. He seemed to be paying extra attention to detail tonight. Her body wasn't weighted down with the same heat of lust that it usually was. Tonight it seemed a shivering coolness had overtaken the surface of her skin, a desire to be touched everywhere at once, while a fire grew slowly in her stomach spreading ever outward under the skin. She was breaking out in goosepimples by the time he had pushed the shirt above her breasts, and was running his tongue over the flesh just inside the left cup of her bra. She ran her hands up his back and tried to pull him closer. Much to her disappointment, he pulled away and sat up a bit to remove her t-shirt. She raised her arms and lifted her back as he pulled it off over her head.

When she lay back down, he descended on her lips again, thrusting his tongue in as she worked hers into his mouth and they danced against each other in perfectly choreographed passion. He worked his hands behind her back and unhooked her bra, then slid it off her arms and went to kiss her breasts, but she was going to even the score. She reached up and went for the buttons on his shirt, but he caught her hands and pushed them back over her head, lowering his lips to her ear. "Lie back," he breathed, and pulled away just enough to look her in the eyes. "Let me do the work."

Rose's eyes widened. He'd never done anything like this before. He was planning to be dominant. A shot of heat exploded in her chest and rushed to pool between her thighs. "Alright, Doctor," she said breathlessly. "I submit to your will," she joked as she gained a bit of composure.

He chuckled slightly, as he rose one of her hands to kiss the pulse point on her wrist. "No, Rose," he corrected gently and kissed a little further down her arm. "You're not submitting." He lay his hand on her face and gazed deeply into her eyes. "I'm worshiping you." His voice was full of love and awe.

Her eyes widened further and her mouth fell open slightly. Her heart was thudding in her chest and the heat previously residing in her loins exploded out of her fingers and toes. Worshiping her? Her heart swelled with his words. She'd never felt so cherished. She tried to speak and couldn't find the words, but she realized there was no need when he smiled and kissed her, gently swirling his tongue with hers.

The Doctor kissed down her neck to her breasts where he lifted his lips so they were just barely touching the surface of her skin and moved them over the soft flesh of her breast, encircling the nipple, but never actually touching it.

Rose's nerves were straining against the skin. Her nipples were so hard, aching for touch. It was a beautiful sort of torture. His breath was gentle and warm, tickling her skin as he moved his mouth slowly over her chest. Finally, he closed his mouth over her right nipple and she arched into him, whimpering, begging for more. She felt him grin against her, the cocky bastard.

He planted butterfly kisses down her torso until he reached the waistline of her jeans and undid them slowly. He was careful to put as little pressure as possible on her skin as he slid them down her legs. He wanted this to build, wanted the need for release to be so great that the explosion would be blinding. He lifted her foot to his mouth and kissed her ankle.

"Doctor?" said Rose, in a breathy voice.

"Hm?"

"S'not fair." He looked at her questioningly. "Lose the clothes."

The Doctor flashed her a grin. "As you wish," he said, and she giggled because it reminded her of a movie she once saw.

He quickly shed his shirt and trousers, but left his pants on. She wasn't getting the whole deal yet. It was quite a bit more comfortable, though, without the pressure of his trousers on his growing erection. He crawled back up her body and kissed her. "Better?" he asked.

"Mmm, much," she said running her hands over his chest. Again, though, he grabbed her wrists and guided her hands away, holding them down on the bed.

"Mm-mm," the Doctor murmured, voice low and husky even through his closed lips. If he was going to last long enough to do this, he couldn't have her touching him. He licked a line up her neck to her ear and she squealed in surprise. "I'm going to memorize you," he said, kissing her shoulder.

"What?"

"Your body," he clarified, propping himself up to look in her eyes. She still looked unsure of what he meant. He raised his hand to her temple and brushed some hair behind her ear. "I was without you for so long. I thought I might never see you again. This time I got you back, but one day..." he tried to swallow the lump forming in his throat and realized he couldn't finish that sentence. "I just want to remember everything," he said and began kissing up her arm, lifting it as he went and speaking between kisses. "Every inch of your soft skin" - kiss - Every pore" -kiss- "Every freckle," -kiss- "Every mole, and birthmark" -kiss- "every little hair" -kiss. He was at her wrist now and he stopped momentarily to gaze down at her. "Everything."

Rose looked up into his eyes and saw so much love there. "Oh, Doctor."

He smiled down at her and she felt a warmth spread through her. He turned her hand over and licked over her palm. If anyone else had done that, it would have just been silly, but the way he did it was somehow sensual. It made her breath catch. It seemed to serve some purpose for him. The way he ran his tongue so slowly over her palm, eyes closed, like he was concentrating. He licked up her fingers one by one sucking each very carefully. "Can you scan my prints like that or something?" she teased, her voice coming out weaker and more yielding than intended.

"Would it surprise you if I said I could?" he baited, raising an eyebrow.

"No, not all," she giggled.

The Doctor chuckled and continued. And he wasn't lying. He didn't skip one little bit of her. He kissed and licked and traced every square inch. Every inch, but where she needed him most. Then, finally, he had worked his way, softly, up her legs and was peeling off her, now soaked, knickers. Rose was trembling in anticipation. Her clit was throbbing. Everything in her was screaming for release. He lowered his mouth to her opening and she could feel his breath on her. It sent a swift shiver up her spine.

The Doctor nuzzled his nose just above her clit and she gave a pleading moan. He smiled and finally gave her what she'd been waiting for. He ran his tongue over her slit, licking up the liquid heat of her arousal. Her hips gave little involuntary jolt at that, and he braced her with his hands on her thighs. He slipped his tongue between her folds and she moaned loudly, arching herself toward him. Working his tongue inside her, he slid his hands up her thighs to her hips and pulled her closer, covering her clit with his mouth and sucking gently.

Rose wasn't sure if the sounds spilling from her mouth were words anymore, and she really didn't care. With all the build up he had given her, this wasn't going to take long. Then she felt the wave of white hot pleasure rising in her and she couldn't hold on anymore. She gripped the sides of the bed, knuckles white, and screamed so loudly that, when she looked back on it later, she would be quite sure the whole ship must have heard her. When she came back to her senses the Doctor was leaning over her, smiling and gently stroking her hair.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Okay? I'm incredible!" she panted.

"Yes," said the Doctor seriously "You are."

Rose smiled at that and he kissed her soundly. She felt him settle his weight on top of her and noticed just how much all he'd done had affected him. His cock was impossibly hard against her thigh and she felt herself becoming aroused all over again. She slid her hands down his back and cupped his rear, pulling him to her.

He immediately got the message and was thankful she was up for more, because he did not want to finish off by himself. He hastily rid himself of his underwear and positioned himself back on top of her. He slid easily into her and groaned in relief as he felt her tight slick walls enveloping him. He surrendered himself completely to the sensation and started to move within her. She wrapped her legs tightly around him as she began to moan and cry his name urging him onward. "Rose," he moaned as he increased his speed. He soon lost all restraint and was pounding into her, gripping her hips and kissing anywhere he could reach, both of them crying out each other's names, swearing, panting, and muttering things incomprehensible. Finally, a blinding supernova of ecstasy swept over them both. He screamed her name to the heavens as he emptied himself into her and she cried out his as she gripped the backs of his shoulders so hard there would most certainly be marks the next morning.

As they came down from their high, the Doctor rolled off her to rest on his side, facing her, in the narrow bed. She rolled into his chest and he wrapped his arms around her. Words weren't needed. Their love filled the air on it's own. Both of them fell softly into a peaceful sleep as the ship rocked a gentle rhythm around them.

* * *

_Thomas_...

The Doctor's eyes snapped open. What the hell was that? He looked at the clock. 2:42am. He looked down at Rose. She was sound asleep. She looked so serene, he couldn't help but smile. Why had he woken up again? He shrugged it off and went back to sleep. Whatever it was, it must not have been important.


	8. Chapter 8

The next day was cloudy. The water was choppy and the boat rocked a bit more severely than it had the day before. Pete had asked that the Doctor, Rose, and Mickey come to the research room for an overview of the current data with the team.

They were all crowded around a table, looking over maps of the ocean floor, lab results, and other such things. "I've never seen a formation like this before," said Ron. "I'm certain there's nothing else like it."

"So am I," said the Doctor ominously.

"All the ground samples, strata readings, everything says that this cover has been here for, well, forever. Maybe before any creature even set foot on the land. See how the ground spirals outward? I know it sounds crazy, but, I don't think this section of earth has ever shifted."

"It's not crazy," said the Doctor. "I noticed that as well, and you're right. This is a fixed point."

"The metal is like nothing we've ever seen," said Rachel, "We tried to take a scraping and got nothing but the organics settled on top of it. Even the most durable alien metals we've found couldn't withstand that much aging. This hasn't even begun to deteriorate."

"No, and it never will," said the Doctor.

"So, it's frozen in time?" asked Rose.

"That's how it appears."

"How is that possible?" asked Aaron, looking up from the computer screen.

The Doctor took a breath, and hesitated. These people had been working on this project and hadn't shown any signs, so far, of being untrustworthy. They deserved at least a little information. "Time Lords," he said "That's who made this."

"Time Lords?" Rachel repeated, fascinated.

"What's that?" asked Aaron.

"Title speaks for itself, don't you think?" said the Doctor evasively. Only a little information.

"Do you think you can get it open?" asked Pete.

"Not sure," said the Doctor.

"Are you sure we should?" asked Rose

"What do you mean?" asked Mickey.

"She's right," said the Doctor. "We have experience with things like this. Trapdoors never hold good things."

"But this could be the greatest find of the century!" Rachel pleaded.

The Doctor had to smile. This was one of the things he loved about humans. They had such insatiable curiosity. It often led them astray, got them into trouble, but it was the driving force behind their progress. "I will try," he said. "After all, not-good things need to be dealt with. So," He looked at Rose. "Ready for trouble?"

She smiled. "Always."

* * *

"Why did you tell them?" Rose asked later. They were standing on the deck looking out over the water. Rose hugged her jacket tighter around her against the wind. The Doctor was, as usual, unaffected.

"About the Time Lords? Well, I wasn't just going to lie, now was I?" he answered. "Besides, I didn't tell them _I_ was one," he added, lowering his voice a notch. "So we should be fine."

"Are we ever?" Rose teased.

"Good point." said the Doctor.

"So what did they tell you in there?" asked a voice from behind them. It was one of the crew. The young man introduced as Dean yesterday.

"You don't know?" asked Rose.

"They don't tell us much," said Dean. "I know that we're going down to some alien hatch and I know it gives Adams the willies, but that's all."

"Well then I'd say they don't know much more than you," said the Doctor.

"Oi, Chesterton!" called Chris, the bowman, attempting to move a large, thick rope onto the deck with Bobby. "You gonna stand there chattin' with the greenhorns, or you gonna help?"

"Chesterton?!" exclaimed the Doctor.

"Yeah," said Dean. "Dean Chesterton. Why?"

It wasn't too common a name so there was a chance, even in this dimension. "You're not related to an Ian by any chance?" asked the Doctor.

"That's my grandfather!"

The Doctor gave an amused bark of laughter. What were the chances?! Well, actually he could calculate in ten seconds what the chances were. (Pretty slim)

"Did you know him?" asked Rose. She didn't add 'in our world'. Shew knew that would be implied.

"Yes," said the Doctor. "Yes I did."

"Where you one of his students?" asked Dean.

"Er...yeah," the Doctor lied.

"Chesterton!" Chris called again.

"Sorry, I've got to go," said Dean turning to leave.

"Er, just out of curiosity," said the Doctor, stopping him. "What was your grandmother's name?"

"Barbara," he answered. "She taught history at the same school."

The Doctor smiled brightly as Dean went to assist the rest of the crew. "Small multiverse," he sighed.

"Who were they?" asked Rose.

"Two of the first people that ever traveled with me. Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright," the Doctor answered nostalgically. "I wonder if there's a Dean Chesterton in our universe."

"I'm sure there is," she said, patting his arm sweetly.

* * *

The next day went without incident and was, frankly, rather boring. That is, until that evening. The Doctor and Rose were walking back to their cabin when he heard it.

_Thomas_

The Doctor stopped dead. What was that?

"Doctor?" asked Rose tentatively. "What is it?"

He'd heard it in his head, he was sure, but he had to ask. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"Someone said 'Thomas'. It was like a whisper... calling out."

"I'm sorry. I didn't hear it," said Rose.

"Must've been in my head," he said thoughtfully.

"'Course, with you..." she started.

"Yeah," the Doctor finished. "Doesn't mean it's not real."

"What do you think it means?"

"Not sure," said the Doctor, trying to lock on to it again. "I think I've heard it before."

"Where?" asked Rose.

The Doctor shook his head. "Can't remember."

"Come to bed," said Rose. "Maybe some sleep will help."

"I don't need sleep," he said matter-of-factly.

"You sleep with me," said Rose. "I've seen you."

"Yes, well, you exhaust me," he teased. She gave him a good humored look and he smiled and answered her seriously. "When I sleep with you, it's not so much about the sleeping as it is about being with you."

Rose smiled and felt the blush rise in her cheeks. It always made her heart flutter when he said things like that. She wondered if he knew. She almost asked him to come to bed anyway, but she could see the gears turning in his head. Besides, she was curious too. Neither of them would be able to sleep while a mystery went unsolved. "You wanna ask around?"

"That would probably be a good idea," said the Doctor. "I think our best bet would be the captain. Shall we pay him a visit?"

Rose smiled and gave him a nod. The Doctor grinned madly and they headed off toward the bridge.

* * *

Captain Pearce was at the helm when the Doctor and Rose stepped on to the bridge. "Evening, Captain," said the Doctor cheerfully.

"Evening Doctor," he said turning his head. "Miss Tyler." he added with a nod to Rose.

"We were wondering if you could help us with something," said the Doctor.

"And what would that be?"

"How much do you know about your ship's history?" asked the Doctor

"All there is to know," he said proudly. "Wouldn't be much of a captain if I didn't."

"Well, we were wondering," said Rose "Has there ever been anyone named Thomas onboard?"

"I'm sure there's been a few," he answered. "It's a fairly common name. Why do you ask?"

"Just following up on something," said the Doctor.

"Well, do you got a last name?" asked the captain.

"'Fraid not," said Rose.

"I don't think I can help you, then," he said apologetically. "I could get you the log history when we get back, but that's the best I can do."

The Doctor and Rose exchanged glances. "Alright then," said the Doctor disappointedly. There was no helping it. If they had to wait 'till they got back to find out who this Thomas was then that's what they'd do. Besides, they could always ask the rest of the crew tomorrow.

* * *

Everyone rose bright and early the next morning to prepare for the dive. They'd arrived at the location of the hatch at around 2am and everyone woke up at about six. The Doctor and Rose had told Mickey and Jake about what the Doctor had heard the night before and they all split up to ask around about the mysterious Thomas.

Rose had found out absolutely nothing. No one she had asked knew a Thomas, which was weird, it being such a common name and all. She decided to reconvene with the others and see how they had faired. She spotted Mickey on deck talking to Spencer, who was checking the rigging on one of the submersibles.

"Any luck?" asked Rose as Mickey came over.

"Nothin'. No one knows anyone by that name."

"Bobby says he knows a Thomas," said Jake, strolling up to them.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Don't know how much good it'll do you though. It's his two year old nephew."

"Oh," said Rose dejectedly.

"Anything?" asked the Doctor as he came over to the group.

"No," they answered in unison.

"You?" asked Rose.

"No. Came up empty, I'm afraid."

"You sure it really means anything?" asked Mickey.

"Almost positive," answered the Doctor.

"Alright!" said Captain Pearce, calling attention to himself as he strode out on deck with O'Malley. "Everyone ready to go under?"

O'Malley gave directions, "Mickey, Jake and Spencer; You'll be manning Sub-2. Doctor; You, Rose and Bobby will be in Sub-1. Okay? Let's get to it!"

Everyone made their way to their designated submersibles and prepared to dive. The Doctor was still troubled that he had turned up nothing on Thomas. Why had that voice called out to him? Where had it come from? He decided to push these ponderings to the back of his mind and focus on the task at hand.

The Doctor climbed into the little yellow sub after Rose who had gone in following Bobby. It was cramped and barely fit all three of them. Bobby was lain on his stomach at the front of the sub to pilot it and, as it was so small, his feet reached all the way to the back. Rose was crouched to Bobby's left near the front of the sub and the Doctor was behind her.

"Pretty close quarters," Rose commented.

"It needs to be," said the Doctor. "Deep sea submersibles go so far down and the water pressure gets so high that the more thick and tight-packed the sub is, the safer it is at more fathoms."

Dean closed the hatch above their heads and the crew on deck began to lower the sub to the water. There was a jolt and a bit of bobbing when it hit the surface and then it began to sink. Bobby turned on the engines and the crane was detached from the hull.

"Separation complete," Bobby said into the com. "Diving."

"Aye, aye," answered Dean through the speaker.

The light from the surface began to fade as they dove. Rose could see the sub containing Mickey, Jake, and Spencer on the little monitor next to Bobby that displayed the subs rear view.

"So," said Bobby, "Ever been down in one of these before?"

Rose wasn't sure which of them he was speaking to so she answered. "No. But I've been in more than a few escape pods. They're pretty similar."

"Pressure, vacuum; same difference," said the Doctor.

"Opposite actually," said Bobby, seemingly unsure as to what they could possibly be talking about.

Rose and the Doctor shared a quiet laugh at his confusion. Something about having experienced all that they had felt like a constant inside joke. Perhaps it was a little bit arrogant, but they liked it.

They dove for a long time in silence, seeing nothing but the occasional fish. The water got darker and darker until the only thing visible was the two thin shafts of light coming from the little headlights on the front of the sub. The small schools of fish had disappeared a few fathoms back and now the lone bigger fish were gone as well. Rose's ears were popping, like when she went up in a plane. Then she saw a little spot of white moving a little further ahead of the sub. The water was dark as ink, so whatever it was must be producing its own light. She was about to say something, when they got close enough to realize it was a luminescent fish.

"Aahh, Macrourus bairdii," said the Doctor, observing it over Rose's shoulder. "Also known as the Grenadier. We must be nearing the bottom."

"I'll turn on the searchlight," said Bobby.

The searchlight allowed them to see much further than they had earlier and even more was illuminated when Sub-2 turned their light on. Rose could see them out the window, about ten meters away.

"We're coming up on the trench now," said Spencer's voice over the com.

Rose looked out. She could see the ocean floor and just a few meters ahead was the edge of the trench. There was more life down here. Some of the fish they'd seen before and other's. Coral fans and krill and - "Ugh!"

"That's an Angler fish," said the Doctor at Rose's reaction when it popped out in front of the glass. "There's a variety of them down here. With a variety of ugly mugs."

"Alright," said Bobby. "We're beginning the decent into the trench."

"Roger," came Dean's voice over the com.

There was luminescent coral on the walls of the trench. They saw less of that as they went deeper. A translucent eel swam by that had what looked like Christmas lights along its middle. The Doctor didn't bother naming it. He was staring intently at the bottom of the trench, looking for the hatch. And then there it was, the searchlight casting itself over it's dull metal seal.

"There it is," said Bobby. "Amazing."

"It's unnatural, is what it is," came Spencer's voice through the speaker.

"I think it's cool," Mickey chimed in.

"What do we do now?" asked Jake.

"Doctor?" Rose looked at him. His people, their secrets, his decision.

The Doctor was silent for a moment. He stared at the seal of Rassilon in the center of the hatch. For so long he had thought himself and the TARDIS to be the only things left of his homeworld. Now, right here in front of him, was a relic of Gallifrey. The very sight of it seemed to promise so much yet held an 'enter at your own risk' air about it. But he was curious and, for all his past running and rebelling, homesick. No matter what the danger, the temptation was too great. "We open it."

"How?" asked Bobby.

"I'm not su-"

As if on cue the ocean floor began to rumble and the cover slowly began to open. The floor of the trench was shaking violently and the water was being sucked in. The subs were unbalanced and being sucked toward the hatch as their occupants were tossed around inside. Bobby scrambled for the radio.

"Mayday! Mayday!" he shouted into the com.

* * *

On the surface the team and the captain were watching on the monitor receiving the camera feeds from the two submersibles. It was impossible to discern what was happening from the picture anymore. Everything was moving so fast. It made you dizzy just to look.

"We've got to get them out of there," said Pete. He ran out onto the deck with Captain Pearce chasing after him. "Bring them up!" he shouted. "Bring them up!"

"We can't!" O'Malley shouted back. "They're independent vessels! There's no cord!"

"Well, what the hell do you do in emergencies?!"

"Mr. Tyler," said Captain Pearce, laying a hand on his shoulder, "We'll do everything we can I promise."

"Whatever it is, we better do it fast!" called Chris eyeing the monitors with panic in his eyes.

* * *

Mickey felt like he was being tossed around in a dryer. He grabbed hold of Jake's arm.

"I knew it. I knew it. I knew it!" Spencer was saying.

"What happened?!" shouted Jake over Spencer and the rushing of water outside.

"It's opened!" he answered. "We're being sucked in!"

"Shit!"

"I knew it. I knew it!"

"Will you stop griping and do something!" Jake shouted at Spencer.

"There's nothing I can do!" he shouted back, "The controls aren't responding!"

"He's already sent up the Mayday," said Mickey. "If we can just–" He was knocked into something on the side of the sub and then everything went dark.

* * *

The Doctor, Rose and Bobby were being sucked into the now open hole. "Doctor," Rose said "How do we close it?!"

"I don't know!" he answered. "But there's no time! We're too close! Just hold on!"

Just after he said it, they were pulled through the opening, the cover closing after them just before Sub-2 could be pulled in.


	9. Chapter 9

The Doctor awoke on a lumpy, wet, and uncomfortable curved surface with something dripping onto his head. He looked up groggily to see the wet rim of the sub window, a few pieces of the shattered safety glass still clinging to it. The source of the salt water currently trickling down his face. Beyond that he could see the high ceiling of the room or cavern or wherever he was. The hatch they came in through was closed now. "Rose?" the Doctor grumbled as he tried to right himself. He felt something warm and soft under his hand and looked down. His hand was on Rose's shoulder. She was lying slumped over Bobby. "Rose!"

"Hm?" she came to, pulling herself upright with a hand on the Doctor's shoulder.

"Are you alright?" he asked, brushing the hair from her face and checking her over.

"Yeah, I think so. You?"

"Yeah." She seemed fine so he moved to check on Bobby. He was dead. He probably died on impact. The Doctor and Rose took a small moment to mourn. They hadn't known him very well, but losses were always felt on their travels.

"Doctor," Rose said when she looked around "There are torches lit!"

He looked up. She was right. Torches lined the wall of the large circular room they were in. It seemed like an entrance hall. The sub was in the center of a massive puddle, almost a pond, of ocean water that had been sucked in with them. The walls were an off-white and were stained by the water that dripped from the ceiling. The floor had an elegant circular tile design in varying shades of brown and what may have once been white. But if the torches were lit, that meant they were not alone didn't it? Was someone here? Was that even possible? The Doctor got up to inspect one of them and Rose followed. He had a small sense of relief when he discovered the reason for their flame.

"They're Everburners," he said. "Like that match I gave you on Starfall, remember?"

"Oh yeah, the one that never goes out," Rose recalled. "There's an archway over there."

"Shall we?"

* * *

"Mickey! Mickey!" Jake shook him, trying to rouse him.

"What's the point?" griped Spencer. "We're all gonna die down here anyway. Might as well let the poor bastard do it in his sleep."

"Oh, you're just a joy, you are," Jake snapped.

"We are! That smack we took knocked out the navigation. Either we run out of air or that thing opens up and sucks us in just like Bobby and your friends."

"How much air have we got?"

"Three hours at most. Then there's the emergency tanks. That'll afford us a few more hours."

"Then that gives us six hours to figure out what to do."

"Mmmnn." Mickey started to come to.

"Mickey! You alright, mate?"

"Yeah. Yeah. Did we get sucked in?"

"No."

"Don't matter. We're still gonna die," grumbled Spencer.

"Shut up!" Jake shouted.

"What about the other sub?"

"They went in," Jake answered.

"Okay," Mickey thought for a moment. "Air?"

"Six hours," said Jake. "Including the emergency tanks."

"Alright. That gives us some time. We have to figure out a way to get the Doctor and Rose out and get us all back up."

"Are you insane?" said Spencer. "Your friends got sucked into hell. They're dead!"

"It's not hell, you moron," said Jake. "The Doctor said it was a library."

"And they're not dead," said Mickey confidently. "You don't know them. Even if we can't get them out, they'll find a way on their own. All we have to do is wait for them."

* * *

"We've lost the signal," said Dean.

"How do we get it back?" ask Pete.

"We can't," said Dean. "Not from up here."

Pete whirled on the captain. "Don't you have protocol for this sort of thing?! Are you just gonna let them die?"

"Mr. Tyler," Captain Pierce said calmly. "We can't be sure they're dead. All we can hope for is that they're engines are still working and that they can come back up."

Pete was silent for a moment. "That's my daughter down there," he said sincerely.

"I know," said the captain, putting a hand on his shoulder. "But all we can to now is wait. And we'll wait as long as it takes."

* * *

The Doctor and Rose entered a huge room filled with books and relics.

"Wow," Rose marveled.

They walked around the cavernous room. There were countless tomes and scrolls piled messily on the shelves and tables that filled the room.

"These books," said Rose, taking one down and examining it, "They're not written in Gallifreyan."

"Yes they are," said the Doctor coming to look at the volume she held. "That's old high Gallifreyan. A dead language in my time. Only a select few could still read it. Luckily, I'm one of them."

"What is it," she asked, handing the book to him.

"Just the first edition of a fairy story… Well, a fairy story that turned out to be true."

"What's it about?"

"Zagreus. He-"

"Thomas?" A feeble, cracking moan came from deep inside the cavern.

"Did you?"

"Yeah," said Rose. "I heard that one."

Putting the book back, they ventured deeper. Turning a corner, they entered another room.

"Can you tell which direction it came from?" asked Rose.

"No. The acoustics in this place… It could have come from anywhere."

"Oh, those are beautiful!" They came upon at table laden with jewels and precious metals.

The Doctor picked up a candlestick bearing the seal of Rassilon. "These must be Rassilon's valuables. Careful what you touch, Rose. He was known to imbue objects with great power."

Rose put down the necklace she was holding. "So, these are dangerous?"

"Mmm, probably not. Piled here like this. No, something really powerful would be on its own. Displayed in some grand way. He was a very dramatic person." Then something caught the Doctor's eye. A small, rectangular wooden box with opulent carvings. He picked it up and opened it. Inside were two silver-colored bands. A man's and a woman's. Inscribed on them in old high Gallifreyan, was an ancient word that roughly translated as "forever love."

"Doctor?"

He quickly slipped the box into his pocket. "Hm? Were you saying something?"

"I was asking why none of these metals have tarnished after all this time?"

"Oh. Chrimedium. It's unbreakable and never tarnishes. It was the rarest metal on Gallifrey."

"Oh."

"Also, I think this whole place is in something like a temporal stasis field."

"Now that you mention it something did feel…different when I woke up here."

"Yes, it did, but I don't think that's it. It feels more…right."

"Yeah, it's like… Well, ever since I came to this universe I've felt a bit like a square peg in a round hole, but it was more than a metaphor. It was something in my gut."

"Universal displacement."

"There a name for that? Is getting stuck in another universe that common?"

"No, I made it up." She gave him a look and it made him smile. "But, no you're right, it feels different in here. You know what? I think this interior is in our universe!"

"But the entrance is in the other universe?"

"Of course! Think about it. If Rassilon wanted to make something impossible to find for anyone in our universe, what would he do? Find a small, unevolved, obscure planet with no intelligent life on it yet and bury it underneath, but shift the entrance into another dimension. Like the interior and exterior of the TARDIS, but more extreme."

"I can hear you," came the old voice again, "I can feel you, my Thomas."

It sounded closer this time. It was easier to follow to its source. The Doctor and Rose followed the voice to a long room lined with three larger than life statues, one on either side of the room and one at the back. Under the statue at the back was a throne and on that throne was a pile of robes covered in cobwebs. "Thomas?" said the pile of robes in a feeble voice. "Is that you?" Then the pile of robes moved to reveal that it was in fact an old woman and the 'cobwebs' were in fact her long stringy hair that had grown out of control during the eons. She held an old iron triton with two long prongs and a short one in the center.

"Who are you?" asked the Doctor. "Who is Thomas?"

"Are you not Thomas? You feel like Thomas."

"I'm not. I'm sorry. Who are you?"

"You are a Time Lord!"

"Yes, I am."

"The hated Time Lords!" the old woman cried angrily.

"Who are you?!" demanded the Doctor.

"I am Gallifrey's last Pythia, but to you, son of Rassilon the deceiver, I am death!"


	10. Chapter 10

"I am a Time Lord, yes, but I have no loyalties to Rassilon."

The Pythia squinted her eyes skeptically. "Why is this?"

"It has been eons since your time," said the Doctor. "Rassilon faded into legend."

"Revered, no doubt," she scoffed.

"Yes," the Doctor admitted. "By most."

"But not by you? Why?"

"Because I met him. Because he returned and overthrew the president. Because that president was my friend. He had ambitions for Gallifrey that I could not abide."

"Where is he now?" She got up slowly, bones creaking and cracking quite audibly. "Where is that cursed bastard now?!"

"I killed him," said the Doctor.

Rose watched this exchange, shocked at the revelations. The Doctor had shared so much with her, but she forgot sometimes that there was so much more he kept to himself.

"Did the rest of the Time Lords thank you or curse you for your troubles?" She approached him, leaning on her triton.

"They didn't get the chance," said the Doctor with that familiar darkness in his eyes. "They died with him."

"All of them?"

"Yes," the Doctor answered sadly.

Then the old witch began to laugh. Small at first, but it grew into a loud heartfelt cackle. It was the most terrifying laugh Rose had ever heard. "Then they got what they deserved!" she spat.

"They were good people!" shouted the Doctor.

She continued to laugh. "Good people? The only good Time Lord I ever knew was my dear, sweet Peylix. Rassilon manipulated him, took credit for his work. How did your 'good people' thank him for his contributions? They left him to die in a black hole!"

"You mean Omega," whispered the Doctor.

"He hated that moniker!" she screamed. "He was my best friend," she whimpered. "He and Thomas were the only ones that tried to persuade Rassilon not to overthrow me."

"Who is Thomas?" asked Rose.

"Who is he? Who is he?! He's the reason for Rassilon and Peylix's experiments! He's the reason you ever became Time Lords at all! At least Peylix was remembered! You don't even remember my Thomas!"

"The Other," whispered the Doctor.

"Who's that?" asked Rose.

"There are some references," the Doctor told her, "to a third person being responsible for bringing time travel to Gallifrey. My people just called him the Other."

"The Other," the Pythia said. "Time Lords were so fond of using titles. What is your title?"

"The Doctor."

"Do you have a real name as well, Doctor."

"Yes," he answered. Rose looked at him in shock. "But to speak it would bring devastation to the universe."

"Did Rassilon do that to all Time Lords?"

"No. He forbade our true names except for use in special circumstances, yes, but only my name is locked within the fabric of the universe."

"How came you by this curse, Doctor?"

"Long story," he brushed the question aside. "What I'd like to know is how did you get down here? Legend says you threw yourself into the Crevasse of Memories That Will Be."

"I tried," she said sadly. "But Rassilon found me. He revived me and cursed me with his immortality and trapped me here in this vat of his relics of achievement, just to remind me of everything he took from me!"

"That's terrible," said Rose.

"As I cursed the Time Lords to sterility, he cursed me to an eternity alone."

"But we can take you out of here," said Rose. "Can't we, Doctor?"

"We can," said the Doctor. "We can save you. Bring you back into the light."

"You said the Time Lords were gone, Doctor," said the Pythia. "What of the rest of Gallifrey?"

"It's gone, I'm sorry. It all burned. But your followers survived. They live on Karn."

"My sisters?" she said hopefully. "You can take me to them?"

The Doctor's face fell. "I'm not sure."

"Why?" she was beginning to sound angry again.

"Once we exit this cavern," said Rose. "We'll be in another universe."

"Another universe?"

"Yes," said the Doctor. "And Gallifrey never existed in this universe."

"Never existed? How?! How is that possible?!" she screamed at him. "You're lying! You must be!"

"You didn't know it in your time," said the Doctor, "but Gallifrey existed in a nexus of the universe. It touched all points in time and space at once. That was why the Pythias could see the future. It was why Omega could create the Eye of Harmony. It was completely unique to our universe. At the space where it existed the veils between universes were thinner, so-"

"LIES! Time Lord lies!" she pointed her triton at them.

"He's not lying, I swear," Rose pleaded.

"And why should I believe you?"

"Because…" Rose fumbled. "Because I'm not a Time Lord."

She lowered her triton a fraction. "No? What are you?"

"I'm a human," she said.

"A human?" she marveled. "Like my Thomas?"

"The Other was human?!" exclaimed the Doctor, and the Pythia raised her weapon again.

"Shh," Rose hissed. "Yes," she continued addressing the Pythia. "Just like Thomas."

"Why do you consort with this Time Lord?" she asked suspiciously.

"Because," Rose said. "Because I love him."

"He is fooling you, girl."

"No, he's not. He's different than the other Time Lords," she said. "He was an outcast all his life because of it. He's kind and compassionate. He respects all life, and he is not lying to you."

They waited with bated breath as the Pythia pondered this. After a moment she shook her head. "No. I will not believe you. He has twisted your mind like Rassilon twisted Thomas's. I loved Thomas and he made be believe that Rassilon wished to negotiate, that he just wanted to talk, but when he left the hall I could not see the future anymore! He took my sight! He took my world and my best friend and my lover. He took them all. That's what Time Lords do! They warp your mind and they take what they want from you and they leave you with nothing!"

"That's not true," said Rose.

"Leave his side, girl or you will die with him."

In defiance, Rose took the Doctor's hand.

To their shock, the old woman moved with lightening speed, thrusting her triton at them.

* * *

"That should do it," said Mickey. He had traded places with Spencer at the front of the sub to rewire the communications box. "Try it now," he said to Spencer.

Spencer looked doubtful, but tried the com anyway. "Sub-2 to topside. This is Adams. Come in topside."

Up top Dean attempted to reply to Spencer, but Pete grabbed the radio. "This is Director Tyler. Are you alright?"

"Dunno about alright, but we're alive," said Spencer.

"Give me that," said Mickey. "We're fine, Pete. Navigation is down, but I'm working on it."

"What about Rose?" Pete asked.

"I'm sorry," Mickey said. "They were sucked in." He heard Pete sigh over the com. "But I'm sure they're alive!" said Mickey quickly. "We just gotta figure out a way to get them out."

Pete took a moment to collect himself. "I'm sure you're right," he said. "If anyone can find a way out, it'll be them. Just, try to reestablish communications with sub-1."

Mickey smiled. "Aye-aye!"


	11. Chapter 11

Rose hit the ground, the Doctor on top of her, dodging the triton. They looked up to see the Pythia stabbing the triton down on them and they rolled in opposite directions to get out of the way. They both stood up and the Pythia faltered for a moment deciding who to go after first. She quickly decided on the Doctor. Rose ran toward her, but, without even looking, she swung the triton and some force threw Rose all the way across the hall, where she hit the base of the statue of Omega and fell to the ground.

"Rose!" the Doctor called out.

"I'm alright!" she called, somewhat truthfully, as she sat up. "Is the triton magic?!"

"Don't be ridiculous!" scoffed the Doctor as he dodged the Pythia's stabs. "There's no such thing as magic!" He ran up the steps to the throne and ducked behind it.

"Then what was that?" said Rose.

"You know how the triton of Neptune was supposed to control the sea?" He climbed up onto the base of the statue of Rassilon.

"Yeah."

"Well the triton of the Pythia manipulates the laws of physics."

"You Time Lords explain everything away with your science," said the Pythia. She thrust the triton upwards and the Doctor flew, head over feet, into the middle of the hall.

"Ow!" said the Doctor pointedly at the Pythia.

"The Time Lords took everything!" she shot a sonic blast at the Doctor, but he hit the floor and it blew a hole in wall behind him. She came up on him fast, before he could get up and stabbed the triton down at his head.

"Doctor," Rose shouted in a panic.

* * *

"You really think you can get the navigation back up?" asked Spencer.

"He can do anything with computers," said Jake. "Genius, he is."

"Thanks," said Mickey "I was a mechanic too, so I know a thing or two about engines, but nautical engines are a bit different, so you should be helping," he said to Spencer.

"What do I know," said Spencer. "You're the genius."

"It's your sub!" said Jake.

"T'ain't mine," said Spencer. "It's Torchwood's. They just got taught me how to pilot it."

"So glad we got you," sniped Jake.

"Will you two stop bickering!" said Mickey. "You're not making it any easier."

"Sorry, luv" said Jake. Everyone froze. Mickey stared at Jake. "I mean, Mickey."

They held each other's gaze. "Did you just-"

"It was a slip," said Jake quickly. "Sorry."

Mickey didn't look away.

"Oh, you're breaking my heart," Spencer interrupted. "We've got five hours until we suffocate to death, so could you save that for later?"

The looked away from each other and Mickey continued to work on the navigation.

* * *

The Doctor was pinned to the ground. The two long prongs of the triton on either side of his neck and the short middle prong grazing his adam's apple.

"Tell me why it is that your aura is so close to Thomas's," said the Pythia. "Tell me why you feel so much like him."

"I don't know," said the Doctor. "I honestly don't know."

"When Peylix died. Thomas was all I had left, but Rassilon turned him against me."

"Omega didn't die," said the Doctor.

"What?" the Pythia was awestruck.

"Omeg-, um, Peylix was transported to another universe, an anti-matter universe, through the black hole."

The Pythia removed her triton and the Doctor sat up, rubbing his neck. She stumbled backwards. "He survived the black hole?"

"Yes, but-"

"Then I shall bring him back!" she raised her triton and the cavern began to shake.

"No, you can't. He was destroyed!"

"You said he was alive!" a beam shot out of the triton, whatever she was doing it was happening on the surface.

* * *

"Oh my god!" said Jake looking out the window of the sub.

"I think it's rather the other thing," said Spencer breathlessly.

"Mickey, look."

Mickey raised his head to look out of the sub and saw a red beam with a black center rising from the sea bed.

* * *

"What the hell is that?!" exclaimed Captain Pearce.

"Possibly the end of the world," said Pete. "Again."

The beam rose into the sky and the clouds began to swirl around it.

* * *

"Doctor, what is she doing?" screamed Rose over the gale that was whipping through the cavern.

"She's opening a black hole! Listen to me," he addressed the Pythia. "Omega is not alive! Even if he were, you couldn't set him free by simply opening another black hole! They don't work that way! They don't always lead somewhere and two black holes never lead to the same place."

"You think you know everything, Time Lord!" said the Pythia. "I trust in my triton. It will bring him back to me."

"From this cavern, you are opening black holes in two universes! Two entire Earths will be sucked in! You'd be killing over sixteen billion people!"

"This world is forfeit and all its fauna. Only Gallifrey matters! Only my friends!"

The Doctor moved to tackle her, but she reacted quickly, she took the triton from its task momentarily and thrust it into the Doctor's chest. To Rose everything moved in slow motion. She saw the two long prongs pierce both his hearts. She saw his eyes widen and his legs falter. For a moment it looked like the Pythia was a puppeteer, propping up the ragdoll Doctor. Then she tugged the triton out of him and he dropped, lifeless, to the ground.

Rose ran to him and dropped to his side. "Doctor?! Doctor?!" She didn't even hear the Pythia laughing behind her. She gathered him up into her lap, stroking his face. His eyes were wide and unseeing. There was not a spark of life in him. "Doctor? Doctor, you're gonna be okay. I know you are. You're gonna regenerate right? Right?" Deep in her gut she knew this was not true. There was no glow, no breath. Just a body and blood. So much blood.

"I shall suffer no more," said the Pythia, having returned her triton to it's task. "This cage will fall! And I shall join my kin in the next world!"


	12. Chapter 12

**London, 1890:**

"This is ridiculous, Thomas."

"For the hundredth time, no it's not, Charles." Thomas answered his friend as he threaded the copper wires into the cabinet.

"It's never going to work," said Charles. "Wiring up this…this…" he looked at the copper reactor containing the strange chemical that Thomas had concocted "This thing to a cupboard, is never going to send you back in time."

"Forward, then," argued Thomas as he fiddled with the controls.

"Time travel is impossible," said Charles.

"No it's not, Herbert said-"

"Herbert Wells makes a living off of his fantasies," said Charles, tired of having this argument for the hundredth time.

"No, this was different," pleaded Thomas, stopping his task to make his point to his friend. "He spoke of a man in a fantastically colored suit who had a cupboard that could travel through time and space."

"It's just a story!"

"No, he swears it really happened! He went to another world and helped this Doctor save an alien people from the Morlocks."

"He is playing with you," said Charles. "It's just a joke!"

"If it was just a joke do you think he'd let me go this far in my experiments based on it?"

"Please don't do this," Charles pleaded. "You said yourself that this chemical is unstable. This whole building will blow if you activate your…your thing."

"That's why you need to leave."

"You've gone mad, my friend. Please. This place is going to explode."

"Yes," said Thomas. "But will I still be here when it does? Come now, Charles, you have to leave. I don't want you to get caught in the blast."

"And I don't want you to die!"

"Charles, these years since Mary died, I've had nothing but my work to sustain me. Then even that came to a standstill. But when Herbert told me his tale… There are limitless possibilities in this world, Charles. There are other worlds, other futures, where I can start again. Endless wonders. Even if it doesn't work, even if I die tonight, don't you think it's worth trying?"

"My dear, Thomas. It is not worth your life."

"But it is even less worth someone else's. Now, please, you have to go. Don't make me drag you out."

"Please..."

"Just go," Thomas whispered.

Seeing that he could not persuade his friend, Charles finally left, hurrying up the stairs with the full intention of getting the police down here before Thomas could activate his infernal machine. Curse that Herbert George Wells for putting these mad thoughts into his head. By the time Charles was six meters from the building there was a deafening bang and a wave of heat that nearly blew him to the ground. He looked back to see flames roaring from the crumbling building where is friend Thomas had lived.

* * *

After the shaking stopped, Thomas waited. He could feel no heat of flames. He could hear no crackling, nor crumbling, nor screams and police whistles. Just silence. He decided to open the door of the cupboard. He felt cool air hit him as he cracked the door. He opened it wide and was stunned by the sight that greeted him. He was in a field of red grass at the foothills of towering snow-capped mountains. He stepped out and looked up into the orange sky to see two suns shining down on him. He let out a laugh. "I did it. I actually did it! I'm on another world! Maybe in another time!"

"You!" he heard a shout from behind him and turned to see a squat man in red robes with a fantastic mustache running towards him. "Who are you?! How did you do that?!"

"I-"

"That box! It just appeared!"

Thomas composed himself and said, quite proudly, "I am Thomas Foreman, sir. I am a scientist."

"You are?" said the man, and then he smiled. "That's wonderful! I am a scientist too! My name is Rassilon." He shook Thomas's hand vigorously.

"May I ask what this world is called?"

"Why, it's Gallifrey of course! Why? What world do you come from?"

"I come from Earth."

"Earth? Never heard of it. Come, Earthman, you and your cupboard could make us very powerful men."

* * *

"I don't know about this," said Thomas.

"Trust me," said Rassion. "She likes you. All you have to do is persuade her to listen to our case."

"But to lead a lady on like that… It wouldn't be right."

"She's not just any young lady," said Rassilon. "She's the Pythia of Gallifrey. To have her on our side could change the course of history. Our experiments need her support."

"I agree with Thomas. Cassiela is my friend. I don't want her to get hurt."

"Quet, Omega," warned Rassilon.

"It's Peylix! It was one bad grade at school! One! I can't believe you got that nickname to stick."

"Shouldn't you be working on the generator?" said Rassilon.

"That's another thing," said Thomas. "I don't think we should be testing the time generator so soon. It's too unstable."

"We have the chronon net," said Rassilon condescendingly. "We can harness the power of whatever explosion it creates."

"I don't know," said Peylix. "My calculations say it will be something more than an explosion. It could tear a hole in the universe."

"I promise you will be safe," said Rassilon reassuringly. "The chronon net can contain anything, even a 'hole in the universe'. The bigger the anomaly the better. The power created by it will be harnessed by the chronon net and it will work in harmony with our machines. It will be the eye of our empire."

"Omega is right, though. Cassiela is a good person. I care about her. Do you really have to depose her? Isn't there a place for her in our new order?"

"We'll see. Her and her followers are just so superstitious. If she embraces the world of science, though, we may find a place for her in the new government."

"Thank you," said Thomas. "I'll talk to her."

* * *

"The loss of my dear cousin Omega is sorely felt," Rassilon addressed the crowd. "But his work will power the future! These new time-and-space machines will make us lords of this universe! We will even be able to defeat the vampire hordes with these machines. Long live Gallifrey! Long live the Time Lords!"

The crowd cheered and Thomas seethed.

* * *

"Is this what you wanted, Rassilon?!" screamed Thomas over the fighting and the whirring of the machine below him. He stood atop the catwalk over the giant genetic loom that Rassilon had created to breed his new race of nearly-immortal Time Lords. "Gallifrey is divided against itself! Omega and Cassiela are dead! You did all of this! …And I helped you."

"You can still help me!" pleaded Rassilon. "Help me unite Gallifrey! Help me bring it out of savagery and superstition. We will be a new people, united in the pursuit of scientific endeavor. A world of order and knowledge! We will be immortal lords of the universe."

"You keep the secret of true immortality to yourself!"

"But I will share it with you!"

"No! Immortality is the last thing I want! Especially not in your new world order! I can't live with the things I helped you do! I don't want to live in your new world at all!"

"Thomas, don't!"

"An old friend begged me not to do something once. I should have listened to him." He looked down at the giant metal looms, razor sharp and weaving cells together. "But I should never have listened to you." He let himself fall into the looms.

**Two Billion years later:**

"I've run the test over and over," said the caretaker of the nursery. "It's no mistake."

The head of the family walked through the hall of artificial wombs. He looked closely at the fetus when they arrived at the one in question. "He doesn't look any different than the others."

"No, well he wouldn't," said the caretaker. "But I'm sure of it. There are traces of human DNA."

"How is that even possible?" he marveled.

"I have no idea."

"But there is enough of our DNA that he can become a proper Time Lord?"

"Yes."

"Then we will raise him normally and never speak of this. Guard the secret with your life." He sighed. "Imagine the shame that would come upon Lungbarrow house should anyone find out."


	13. Chapter 13

"Chesterton, Chris, raise anchor! O'Malley, take the helm! We're getting out of here!" The sea rolled and the sky roared as the black hole began to open up.

"Captain Pearce!" called Pete, "What about the subs?!"

"Listen, Mr. Tyler, whatever this is, they're safer down below. If this stops, we can come back for them, but right now, we've got to worry about our own hides. We're no good to them dead."

Pete reluctantly accepted this. He looked up to the sky and hoped that the Doctor and Rose could stop this.

* * *

"There's got to be something we can do," said Jake.

"I can fix the navigation," said Mickey, "But beyond that, I don't know. Whatever's doing this is coming from inside the hatch, so only the Doctor and Rose are in a position to fix it."

* * *

Rose rocked the Doctor's body back and forth, silently screaming through her tears. She knew he was not coming back now. It had been too long.

"You'll be free soon, Peylix!" shouted the Pythia. "We'll both be free!"

Something in Rose calmed. She could feel something reaching out to her, a connection strengthening, then a familiar song, a song that sung of the same grief that she felt. "You will never be free."

The Pythia looked down at the girl she had disregarded. Her hair raised almost as if she were under water and she…she was glowing. "What is this?" When Rose turned her face toward the Pythia, the old woman felt fear like she had never known. "No. It can't be!"

The Bad Wolf stood and approached her. She pointed her triton at her, but the Bad Wolf raised her hand and the triton disintegrated.

"You have suffered these long years in isolation," the timeless voice echoed.

"It can't be. The Golden Guardian!"

"Suffer no more." The Bad Wolf flicked her wrist and the Pythia screamed as she was blown into atoms.

Rose could feel the universe running through her. She and the TARDIS were of one mind again. She looked up and could see through the crust of the Earth and the fathoms of ocean as the black hole opened up in the sky. She closed her eyes and could feel her feet leaving the ground. She concentrated and slowly, but surely the hole in the sky closed up. She knew she had to bring the Doctor back, but she could see now what she had done to Jack before. She could not reverse that. He had a purpose. She felt the energy of life and death. She narrowed it into a controlled stream and directed it at the Doctor. Everything hurt. Everything burned. She had to let go of this. She had to do it without the Doctor's help this time. But how?

* * *

"It's stopped," Dean marveled.

The black hole was gone. Even the clouds were clearing and the sea was calming.

"Come about!" called Captain Pearce. "Let's get our people back!"

* * *

"It's gone!" said Spencer. "Thank the lord, it's gone!"

"It's the Doctor and Rose," cried Mickey. "I knew they were alive! I told you!"

"Yes!" crowed Jake and he hugged Mickey.

"What's more, I fixed the navigation," Mickey added.

"Alright," said Spencer. "Let's get out of here!"

"No," said Mickey. "We're waiting for them."

"But we've only got four hours of air, one without the emergency tanks, and it'll take us three hours to get to the surface!"

"I hate to say it, but he's right Mickey," said Jake. "There's not much we could do to get them out from here anyway."

"But…"

"Kid, there's nothing we can do," said Spencer.

Mickey took a long look at the hatch. "Alright," he finally relented. "Spencer, take us up."

* * *

The Doctor gasped. His chest ached. Wait. No it didn't. He blinked as his vision returned. He could see an impossibly bright glowing shape at the top of the cavern. A gravity globe? No. It was.. "Rose!"

He stood up and called out to her. "Rose! Rose, can you hear me?!"

How was this possible? She wasn't even anywhere near the TARDIS. Where had the power come from? Where would it go when it left her? "Rose, please. Concentrate on the sound of my voice."

"Doctor?" Her voice sounded far away and right next to his ear at the same time.

"Rose, come back down," he pleaded.

"I don't know if I can."

"You can, Rose, I swear you can. Just concentrate on my voice. I know it's hard with the whole of time and space running through your head, but try, please try, to ignore every sound but my voice."

"Okay."

"Now breathe in deep. Now imagine the whole of time and space being gathered into a ball. Now, gently, very gently, breathe that ball out."

He could see the golden particles exiting her mouth in a stream and surrounding her. He breathed a sigh of relief. Then, very suddenly, all the particles seemed to be sucked into her body very quickly, the glow disappeared, and she began to fall to the ground. He ran to catch her and she knocked him down as she hit his arms. "Rose?" he rolled over and lay her beneath him. "Rose, what happened? Are you alright?"

She seemed unconscious, but she was breathing steadily. The Doctor put his hands on either side of her face and gently reached into her mind. There seemed to be no trace of the time vortex inside. Wait, no. There was a tiny golden filament that he could only just sense. He traced it back to the TARDIS. Ah, so the power did not reside inside her, but her bond to the TARDIS from the first time she became the Bad Wolf acted as a conduit. The bond did not seem harmful, so he didn't attempt to disconnect it, as that would be too delicate a task. He withdrew from her mind. She would be fine. He saw a drop of water on her face. A tear? Then a drop hit his hand. Oh no. All the shaking must have made the cavern unsound. Under so much water pressure, who knows how long it could last? He picked Rose up and ran as fast as he could to where the sub had landed. He rested her against it and picked up the com from the console, praying it still worked. "This is sub-1 to sub-2, or to The Lady of Truth, whoever's listening!"

"That's the Doctor!" Mickey scrambled for the com. "Doctor, it's Mickey. Are you and Rose alright?"

"We're fine for now, but the cavern could cave in at any second. I saw some ancient machines further back in the library. I think I can fashion a short range transporter with components from them and the navigation unit in the sub, just make sure the ship stays where it is so we have a place to transport to. I just need five minutes."

"Right, well you'll probably beat us up there then."

The Doctor smiled. "Here's hoping." He ran into the next room ripping apart machines and taking what he needed.

Rose came to with and aching head. She opened her eyes to see the Doctor running towards her, sonicing some kind of circuit. "Doctor?" Then she remembered. "Doctor! You're alive!" she cried.

"Yes," he said quickly ducking into the sub and opening the console. "Kissing and relief sex later."

"You're still covered in blood! What happened?"

"It'll come back to you in dreams, just like before." He soniced a bit of the sub console onto his circuit thing. "Right now we're getting out of here." He reached down his hand for her to take and she did.

"What's that thing?"

"Short range teleport," he answered, putting his arm around her waist. "Should carry two." He smiled at her. "Allons-y!" He pushed the button.

They materialized in mid-air and dropped six feet into the freezing water.

"Holy hell!" cried Captain Pearce when he saw them. Everyone came to the side of the boat to see them treading water below.

"You moved the boat!" the Doctor called. The captain and Pete laughed, then moved to haul them up.

* * *

After Mickey, Jake, and Spencer surfaced and the Doctor and Rose dried off and changed, everyone gathered in the galley to talk about the day's events and mourn the death of Bobby Trapper.

While the Doctor and Rose told the crew what happened, Jake approached Mickey. "Hey, Mickey can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Now?"

"Please?"

"Sure." They went out on to the deck.

"Look, Mick… back there, in the sub, when I called you… Well, when I said-"

"Jake. It's okay. You were probably thinking about Ricky. I understand."

"No, but that's just it. I wasn't. For years I've been feeling… I've had feelings for you. And at first I couldn't figure out if it was just because you reminded me of Ricky or what. But then I realized it was you. Just you. You're so different. I mean, you're alike in a lot of ways, but you're very much your own person. Then I couldn't figure out if being with you would be disrespecting Ricky in some way, but I've realized it isn't. You're a different person. So, it doesn't matter that you look like him, because I loved him for him… and now I love you for you. And I know you probably don't feel that way about me, but-"

He was stopped mid-sentence as Mickey kissed him full on the mouth. Jake kissed him back desperately. When they broke apart, Jake uttered, "I thought you were straight."

"So did I," said Mickey. "Then I met you. But another captain taught me once that labels like that don't matter. You can love who you love without worrying about fitting into a category. And I do love you Jake."

Jake smiled and kissed him again.

* * *

Later that night in their cabin, the Doctor told Rose about what happened when she was the Bad Wolf.

"But how?" asked Rose. "I thought I had to get that power from the TARDIS."

"You did," said the Doctor. "The first time you became the Bad Wolf, you bonded with the TARDIS. Permanently. You're a conduit for her power now."

"Is there some way I can control it?"

"No. And there shouldn't be. No one should have that much power. Not all the time. And using it too much could kill you."

"Not good."

"Very not good. I have a theory," he added. "That the power you drew this time is the reason we came to this universe in the first place."

"How so?"

"The TARDIS is at her strongest when she's happy, and she's happiest when she's full of people. Plus, her bond with you is strongest when you're inside her. So I think, your connection reached out to when you, Mickey, and I were inside her and pulled the time vortex out from there, which is why we crash landed here the first time with the Cybermen."

"Wibbly-wobbly."

"Exactly!"

"Do you think you'll be able to get us back to our universe?"

"No," he sighed. "But," he said brightening, "We can explore this universe. I can rewire the TARDIS to navigate this vortex."

"How will you know what events are fixed points and what events are in flux if you don't know the history here?"

"Oh, that's Time Lord instinct. The timelines of this universe started falling into my head as soon as I got here."

"You think you're so impressive."

"As I keep trying to tell you: I am."

She laughed and kissed him.

"Imagine it, Rose. A whole universe filled with planets I know nothing about! We can discover them together!"

"I'd travel any universe with you."

He pulled away and looked at her seriously. "For how long?"

"Forever. You know that."

He smiled. "Yes, I do. But I just wanted to make sure before," he got up and dug in his pocket and pulled out a little wooden box. "Before I did this." He got down on one knee in front of the bed and opened the box to reveal two silver wedding bands.

"Oh my God," gasped Rose. "Doctor, are you really…?"

"Yes, I am! So? How about it, Rose Tyler? Will you marry me?"

"Of course! Yes! Yes, yes, yes!"

He beamed and got up and kissed her. "They're Chrimedium," he said, sitting down next to her again. "They say 'eternal love' in old high Gallifreyan. They're from back when my ancestors still married for love."

"Mum's gonna flip," said Rose, smiling.

He groaned, "Oh can't we just elope?"

"That would kill her!"

"Oh, fine," he sighed. Then he smiled. "A big wedding might be nice, actually."

"Really?"

"Yeah. And I won't even be at gunpoint or spearpoint this time!"

"Have you never married anyone by choice before?"

"Nope."

"Well I'm glad to be your first," she said.

They kissed again and all was right with the multiverse.

- THE END -


End file.
